It is about 36 degrees outside and I'm waiting for the warm up so instead of being productive inside the house, I'd rather sit here and write a few things. Being productive is never that high on my list but social distancing is helping me be a little more focused. These things I have been doing around the house would have totally been on the back burner because by this time of the year being out in the convertible, going places, seeing things...is usually what grabs my attention.
Buddy is in the window sleeping, taking in all the warmth. Earlier she was a bit put out over not being let out onto the front porch, but dang cat, it is too cold.
Yesterday my concentration was in getting these flat stones and rocks down to a manageable size to place in the backyard. Although the hammer method was good, letting these big pieces fall onto the driveway or across a wooden board seemed to be the most economical use of energy. It is looking good and hopefully this work will accomplish the goal of not tracking so much dirt, leaves and grass into the house. You could vacuum three times a day and not keep ahead of said trackage materials. While working so hard on the chain gang Flintstones quarry work, a brief memory came to mind. Dealing with childhood and family situations I didn't understand, the moment I closed my bedroom door to that world, my pretend world would begin. Sometimes while doing homework, I would turn off the above room light and just have on the desk lamp. I would sit at the desk doing homework or many times in that land of pretend, I just pretended to do my homework, and picture myself traveling about the country on a train. Sitting at that little desk and the stark focused desk light I would imagine doing my homework in the caboose of the train. That pretend wasn't well thought out, who was I traveling with? Where was I getting my homework? Did I work on the train? I think I liked the, dare I say it word of 2019 cozy, coziness of the setting. Most of the time when that bedroom door shut in my imagination I found myself working on a farm...with lots of chores that kept me busy. Now that was a much more thought out pretend game. Yesterday, reminded me, although we don't live on a farm, there is always something to do or take care of around here.
While working in the driveway quarry a most unusual sight of Mama Cat totally relaxing took me by surprise. She came up to the bowls and ate whatever leftovers were there and there was just the littlest bit of milk left in the milk jug. So, since she isn't a frequent visitor much and because no other cats were around, she enjoyed lapping up milk in relative peace. There is no peace for a feral cat, their heads and ears constantly moving toward noise and not wanting to be surprised. After she finished eating and drinking she made her way over to the new arrangement of chairs now in the middle of the yard and not close to the porch. She laid there, rolling about on her back. She stretched out and took in the respite that this time frame had given her. In all the years she has been around, she is never in a relaxed state. Early on, she watched over her kittens and then as she moved farther down the gravel road she kept in the vigilant position. Watching her relax and have a moment not at guard was such a gift, for both of us.
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Sunday morning, another Sunday morning in social distancing. Roy and I had this week planned out but things are not happening and our plans have come to naught...so one would think. They changed but God is good and He loves us so. Buddy is taking the first of many naps. The sun is beginning to break around the clouds. There looks to be a bit of a breeze and online church is playing in the background. Sunday morning, Palm Sunday morning. The kitties out back have had a snack but are waiting around for brunch. I'll get out there in a bit.
Yesterday brought a bit of nostalgia. It came about seeing a post on my high school alumni page. Someone requested pics of the volleyball teams in 1971 and 1972. Went to the yearbook and took a couple of pics and posted them. Several of us who were on the team visited a bit online about those days. We were one year before Title 9 so girl sports was not even on the forefront of anyone's thoughts except maybe us and our friends and families. I made the varsity team my sophomore year but wasn't a starter till my senior year. That sport and team meant a lot to me. The summer before my senior year and y'all this was back in the olden days of sports, I borrowed my brother's bike and ride for miles and miles most evenings. I had five pound weights for each ankle and jumped outside several times a day trying to increase my jump height. I was doing this before I learned our volleyball coach was encouraging a friend on the team to work hard and loose weight to beat me out as a starter. That just made me work harder that summer. Our team met on our own and used Willow Meadows Baptist's gym to play and work. As a group, we were a talented bunch and our goal was to win the city championship. That is as far as we could go way back there in the olden days. We made the championship but lost...to a team we practiced against several times. We prepared for their short serves but they didn't short serve us, they long served and we didn't adjust. It's funny, I worked with a woman at Pennzoil that was on that team...we recognized each other. We had some good talks about that match. Several years ago I was in a jewelry store and the sales clerk asked me if I had played volleyball at Westbury in the early 70s? Yes, and she told me she had played on Lee's vb team, they were in our district, and she began to tell me about several spikes that I had in the game...back then there wasn't a kill term or really even blocking as it is known now. I didn't remember them at all but she said, they were trying to figure out how to stop me. Y'all, not even a blip on the screen and I wasn't the best player on the team, at all, in no way. But...what a gift that was to remember those sporty good times. How she put me then with the me way back then, I have no clue and rest assured I wasn't making vb moves in the jewelry store.
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