12 Oakdale

We had planned to drive to Fort Lauderdale on the Sunday two weeks beforeThanksgiving, eat dinner with son Patten, spend the night at a friend’s, then, the reason for the trip, I’d have my annual birthday breakfast with Deb and Pat, who share the same birthday. Deb and I have been celebrating together for almost 30 years; Pat joined us a few years ago.  But, after 7 years of waiting, that Monday was announced as the opening day of the trial of the alleged murderer of Deb’s dear friend. The jury was to be seated the week before, and the victim’s husband and son were to testify the first day. They had requested that Deb and her husband be there as support. If we were still living in Fort Lauderdale, I’d have joined them. This robbery-gone-wrong was the most horrific crime against one of the nicest persons I’ve known. She would have given the thug whatever he wanted. But, rather, she was brutally stabbed to death. The case got crazier when the alleged murderer, known in his neighborho...

We celebrated Thanksgiving with 19 of our family, including a new grandnephew and a new perhaps significant other. Two turkeys, 4 kinds of stuffing, veggies, etc, with all the trimmings, plus 7 pies, banana bread, and brownies. Then Stephanie brought out the chocolate cake she’d made for my birthday, cookies, cupcakes, and Rice Krispie treat “drumsticks”.  Fortunately, our family is all vaccinated, with the exception of the younger children. We didn’t have any of the fights other families had. My neighbor has a niece and her husband who refused to be vaccinated, so there was much deliberation about how to handle the situation. Conveniently, the couple and their teenage children all came down with Covid, so were too sick to come to dinner. As they say, karma is a bitch. I was the delighted recipient of a big-numbered rain gauge from sister Peg, a blinged-out Christmas flamingo and flamingo-decorated bowls from Step and Clara, a set of prime-rated ear buds from my sweetie, and 2 of t...

The delightful palm warblers have returned. Groups of 10 or so flit through the yard, eating bugs from the shrubs and trees. The phoebes have also come, sitting on the telephone wires and singing their names, so they are easy to identify. With them came wind, cooler weather, and lots of rain. Our south side yard was flooded. When we have the roof redone and new gutters hung, I’m investigating adding a rain barrel. I also want a rain gauge. With two days of rain, I abandoned weeding and yard work. We went to Lowe’s and bought a closet system to install in the guest bedroom. We put double rods on the right with a tower of shelves and drawers in the middle. On the left, we have a narrow slot, with a single high rod. I hung my long dresses and coat on that rod and realized its left end was about an inch lower than the right. Too bad; it’s not being reinstalled. As Grant said, were we to go into the closet biz, we’d have to bid by time not by the job. We are both slow, yet incompetent. Stil...