Women and Apple Fritters

I don’t do it often, but this morning I was determined to go to Tops and get apple fritters for my breakfast. I headed out on a sunny day, and when I arrived at Tops I noticed that a woman was already taking some apple fritters—and it looked like she was going to take all of them. So I asked her if that was her plan, because she was taking a big box of things. And she told me she had planned to take all the apple fritters to her workplace, but if I wanted some, that was no problem. She was picking out other things, too.

I thanked her, and told her I wanted one or two. And as I grabbed a bag for them, another woman came and was looking at the apple fritters. So I asked her if she was planning to take one. She was. Within a quick second, all the apple fritters were gone.

We all thanked each other. I was so impressed—here were three people who wanted the same thing, and we all made the right choice to let us all have some. There were no arguments, and no one seemed frustrated or unhappy.

I hope everyone enjoyed the apple fritters as much as I did!

Hate the Weather, But Love My Neighbors!

There’s nothing like having a nasty, intense winter snow storm, especially if it’s almost spring. If you’ve been looking online, you’ve probably seen a lot of photos and videos about Stella—the storm: people working hard, people doing funny things, animals that are having a good time (or not!), and reports about how much snow has fallen. In my neighborhood, a lot of folks didn’t go to work Wednesday. I was one of them, but I can work from home, and I did.

The storm started on Tuesday and I shoveled snow late in the afternoon. My porch, sidewalk, and part of the driveway I use had about a foot of snow at the time. It was amazing to look out Wednesday and see even more snow. I went out then, and the snow was as high as my knees! I figure the total at that point was 30 inches.

I’ve been very lucky, though, to have neighbors offering help. Patrick not only worked with my hard-to-close front door; he also cleaned up some snow so I could use my back door until the front one was working (and today it is!). I met a neighbor named Amy, who shoveled the part of my driveway that’s by the road, and always has extra snow at the very end. And a young neighbor came by and did some shoveling for $5.00. I think he was nine or ten years old, and he did a good job. I’ve been out shoveling myself. I’ve lost track of how many times, and it’s not finished yet.

I hope everyone who’s had this incredible snow storm is in good shape, and can deal with this crazy weather!

Born to Read

There are various ways to obtain music you love—records, CDs, and lots of things online—and various ways to obtain books. There are bookstores, libraries, Kindle books, audio books, and—well, you probably know this already. For me, if a book is one I think I’ll love and want to keep forever, a classic hardcover edition will be what I want. I did get a hardcover copy of Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen’s wonderful autobiography.

Occasionally a book is even better than I expect it to be, and this is one of those “better” books. If you’re interested in knowing about Bruce Springsteen’s family members and how and where they lived, read this book. If you’re curious about how Bruce became a musician and wrote songs, read this book. If you want to know what the world was like—especially the USA—back in the 1960s and 1970s, read this book!

Honestly, there’s so much I could say about this autobiography that I’m not sure where to start. It’s written well, and if you’re familiar with Springsteen’s music, you’d probably be able to tell who wrote this book even if you just saw a paragraph somewhere.

There was something I didn’t expect that I enjoyed very much: some of the things Springsteen wrote about not only reminded me of earlier times; it was like they took me personally back to those times. I started remembering things I haven’t thought about in ages. There was a girl in my college, for example, who said she was from New Jersey not only knew Bruce, but one of his songs was about her. I remembered taking my daughter, who was about 5 years old, to the “Born in the USA” tour in Syracuse, and what that very cold, wintery night was like.

Then there were things I don’t have to remember, because I still do them—like dancing and singing along with Bruce and his band when there’s a song on TV or the radio.

I’ve had a couple of friends tell me that they’ve read the book twice already, and I’m thinking about doing that (an interesting possibility, since I never—well, almost never—read anything twice!).

But the most important thing I have to do is thank Bruce Springsteen for his book, and especially his music. And thanks to my daughter as well—for going to see him with me years ago, and getting me this book.

That’s All Right With Me

Today I’m listening to music.

There are two reasons why I’m doing this. The first is that for the last several years, I haven’t been listening to music at home. They play good stuff while I’m at work a few hours a week, and I always put my radio on when I’m driving—which doesn’t happen often these days. Why I haven’t been listening at home is a question I haven’t been able to answer, but I’ve been lucky in the last few weeks: I read a book about one of my favorite musicians and his music, and it made me determined to play it—and play it LOUD—as soon as possible. Today is the day!

The second reason I’m doing this is to find out if I still like music as much as I used to like it. Actually this was an easy question to answer. By the time the first two or three notes came on, I turned the sound up and was dancing—and singing—and happy.

Apparently this made an impression with my cats Shadow and Meg. (The other two, Ninja and Emily Chicago, are usually hiding under my bed and don’t consider me to be a real friend.) Shadow, who was sleeping on the couch, woke up and watched me dance. Meg came out from the back room as soon as she heard the loud music. I danced through the house to see her, and she danced with me for a minute.

So it’s been a great day. I listened to music while I ate lunch. I’m still listening while I write this, and I’ve been reminded of something: for me, listening to music and writing can make me feel like me, like a happy me. I’ve got to keep on with these things!

A Rosy Autumn

Where I live in western New York, there are usually ways to tell what time of year it is just by looking out your window. In the winter there is snow. Spring has birds flying and lilacs starting to bloom. The sun can be bright in the summer, with lots of people riding bikes or walking for enjoyable exercise. Later, in the fall, leaves turn from green to a variety of colors.

This year we’ve had weird weather—a warmer winter with less snow than usual, an extremely hot and dry summer, and now autumn is just beginning to start in the middle of October with more warm weather. It will be in the 70s—and maybe as high as 80—most of the coming week. I’ve been watching the leaves, but today I noticed something I’ve never seen before.

There is a rose that will bloom in the next day or so. I’ve never seen this happen in the middle of October! Thanks, phone—I’ll be saving this photo for a long time.

….and ANOTHER Book Review!

http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=38609

Sometimes reading a non-fiction book can be both informative and a good read. Here’s one I recently reviewed on OnlineBookClub.org.

If you have an elderly parent, you might find this interesting. Part of the reason I read it was because I AM getting to be an elderly parent myself, in addition to having a Mom who’s in her 90s. Check it out!

Read Some Short Stories

I enjoy short stories, and had a great time reading and reviewing this book. http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=37725

The author is Susan Lynn Solomon, and the book is called Voices in My Head. I think you will enjoy it as much as I did!

An Enjoyable Book

Take a look at my most recent review–if you like mysteries with really interesting and well-done characters, I suggest you read this book.

http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=36531

Bird Week

I’m happy to announce that this is Bird Week in my yard. It happens every summer, but I never know exactly when, because it’s based on a tree.

The tree is officially called Amelanchier, but here in western New York it’s more commonly called shadbush, or serviceberry, or several other names. I recently found out that it’s in the Rose (Roseacea) family. My tree blooms pretty little white flowers in the spring, and develops edible seeds in the summer. It’s a popular tree for squirrels and birds all year, but when the seeds are ripe it becomes The Most Popular Tree in the Yard for about a week. And thanks to my cats, the Bird Week is easy to spot.

The top part of the tree is right outside a second-story window. A cat occasionally will stop and look out at a squirrel, or sit on the window sill on  a pretty summer day. And then, suddenly, all four cats will be by the window at the same time. They’ll be quiet, and look relaxed, but their attention is totally connected to the shadbush tree. It’s full of birds, and surrounded by birds. There’s a lot of chirping and wings humming, and the occasional ping when a seed falls on my car. The cats seem to love the sounds as much as they love the birds.

One day soon I’ll notice that it’s getting quieter, with less flying and less furry observing. The Bird Week will be over, but I’ll have next year’s tree adventures to anticipate!

Thanks, Sam Waas!

One of the things I enjoy most about being online is meeting people I would never be able to meet in person. There are friends on Ravelry and Facebook that live many miles away, sometimes in other countries that I will probably never have a chance to visit, and there are friends who live close enough that I can meet them for lunch.

I joined OnlineBookClub.org about six months ago, and have had a very enjoyable time meeting other readers, reviewers, and writers. I was sorry to hear today that one of my favorite people, Sam Waas, is now deceased.

He has written a series of private detective novels, and I recently read and enjoyed the first in the series, called Blood Spiral. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series as well. But what I really appreciate most was Sam’s sharing information and giving suggestions to solve problems. We did some posts about James Joyce’s Ulysses—Sam’s favorite and my least favorite book—and he gave me some information that I hope will make this book more understandable and enjoyable. He also gave me–and other members—good ideas about doing a good job with writing.

So thanks, Sam! It was good to meet you, even though it was only for a brief time.