November 15, 2023
We are already, today, smack
dab in the middle of November. Can you believe it? Honestly the older I get the
faster that time seems to fly. Things are moving so fast, that I really do need
to sit down and relax sometimes just to try to get my bearings from all the
whizzing and the swooshing. But that doesn’t slow the time either, because when
I do that, I tend to doze off. Even if it’s only a short little cat nap, heck,
I wake up ten minutes later and that’s another ten minutes that flew by so fast,
I didn’t even see them.
And why do they call it a cat
nap, anyway? The cat we now have, who is still a kitten at 3 and a half months
old, will sleep for an hour or more whenever the notion occurs to him. One of
his favorite sleeping spots, if I am in the living room with my legs up, is on
me! During this so-called “cat nap”, I pick him up and move him if I have to
get up out of my recliner, and he is boneless and continues to sleep through
the entire maneuver. He doesn’t even care where I put him either, as long as wherever it
is, it’s warm and soft and therefore, for sleeping.
Last weekend was a busy one
for us here. We celebrated our second daughter’s and David’s birthdays on
Friday (they were born on the same day, so we have a double celebration every
year). We used to take the whole gang out to one of the local steak houses.
However, this year, we decided that we could make it at home a lot better and
for a lot less money than we could buy it out. A family steakhouse meal that
was pricey before the pandemic is now beyond pricey and into the category of “forget
it” now.
So, we had grilled ribeye steaks,
baked potatoes, mushrooms and onions, garlic shrimp, and sweet kernel corn that
had been home frozen. All very much tastier and absolutely less expensive than
in any restaurant.
The other tradition with
regard to these particular birthdays has to do with the cake. Ages ago, our
daughter made pineapple upside-down cake for their birthdays. She made three
cakes—one for each of the celebrants to have for their own, and one for the
rest of us to share. That went over so well (in the opinion of the celebrants)
that she has done this ever since. Also, it is the only time in the year that
anyone gets pineapple upside-down cake.
Then during the weekend, our
daughter’s grandchildren were here from Saturday morning till Sunday after
supper. We had a guest for lunch on Sunday, and daughter took her grandchildren
to the pool on Saturday and then to the park on Sunday. It was a very enjoyable
time, but also, for those of us who will never see sixty-five again, an
exhausting one.
We, all of us here in this
house, appreciate simplicity. That is a very good and very basic thing for us
to have in common. We don’t put on airs or stand on ceremony. We like to be
comfortable, so we don’t fuss over the number of blankets found in our living
room. There are times when we look around at the people and the dogs, each of
us having some or all of our own blankets and accept that in those times, the
Ashbury residence is nothing more than a flop house.
I take a couple of hours in
the middle of the day—usually while David is having his nap (one that is like
the cat’s in that it definitely lasts more than an hour and he sleeps very
deeply). During that time, my daughter’s teacup chihuahua asks me to fix his
blanket (yes, the smallest dog has his own designated blanket) so that he can
enjoy Zeusie-grandma time. Lying beside me, mostly or completely covered by his
blanket, he gets a good sound sleep, too. It is expected, of course, that
during this time I “pat him” a few times by tapping my hand gently on his
blanket-covered little body.
Apparently, there are more
rituals to be observed in this house than one could easily count.
And to anyone joining us on
any given day, we always issue a warning—if there is a blanket in your path,
either on the floor or on a chair, please do not kick it or sit on it. Not,
that is, until you check to make sure there is no innocent, sleeping critter
completely hidden within.
Even the animals in this house
are protected from unnecessary rude awakenings.
Love,
Morgan
https://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury
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