When new people moved in across the road from us several years ago, my husband Steve and I went over and introduced ourselves. The new neighbors were a middle-aged couple and their adult son. Since they said they owned a car repair shop in town, from that point on Steve and I referred to them in private as the Mechanics. We have private names for all of our neighbors. We call one the Golfer because he likes to golf in our field. We call another Chipper Shredder because he is always cutting things down and running them through a chipper. Steve and I welcomed the Mechanics to the neighborhood; something we would not have done if we had known what was to come. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Splendippity
Blame the Dog
They were an odd pair; a little white dog whose legs looked even shorter than they actually were because of his fat, round body and a little white dog with tan markings that looked somewhat like a Jack Russell Terrier. I saw them both running across my yard as I was returning from a trip to the drug store to buy more cold medicine. I parked the car in the garage and stepped outside to see where they were going but when they saw me, they changed direction and ran over to me. Continue reading
How I Became a Restroom Warrior
I didn’t set out to become a restroom vigilante. No, I was forced into it bit by bit through the actions of a woman who treated the women’s room in our office building as her private office. Continue reading
Snow Geese
I awoke yesterday morning to the sound of hundreds of snow geese in the farmer’s fields behind our home. They show up every year to rest and to glean the leftover corn to fill their bellies before moving further north. Ultimately, they will arrive at their breeding grounds in the Arctic tundra. I look forward to their annual visit because they’re the only Arctic animal I get so see living here in Pennsylvania and because I’m amazed at the length of the journey they take every year, flying from the Arctic to the southern United States to winter in warm marshes, and then back to the far north every spring. They arrived a month early this year. Most years they show up in the middle of March, but spring arrived early here in Pennsylvania, and I knew that the geese, true harbingers of spring, would not be far behind. Continue reading
Kumm Esse
The first time I met her she told me to call her Grandma. Although my husband and I were only dating at the time, and although she was his grandmother, she instantly welcomed me into the family and for the rest of her life she treated me and the spouses of all of her other grandchildren, as one of her own. Continue reading
The Racing Pigeon
I was heading into the house on a summer day in 1999 when I found a pigeon sitting on the stoop in front of the back door. As I approached the back door, the pigeon did not fly off and even when I stood in front of it, it did not move. I sat down on the stoop next to it and was able to pet its head and as I did, I noticed a band on its leg. It was a racing pigeon. Up close, its colors were gorgeous. Not just gray feathers, but emerald green and purple and black adorned its head and chest. I had no idea a pigeon could be so pretty. Continue reading
Ear Worms
I never know how to answer someone who asks me what I’m thinking because I’m rarely thinking about just one thing. Typically, there are multiple thoughts running through my head at any given time and all of those thoughts are accompanied by background music – song fragments that play in my head like the background music you hear at the mall. This is particularly noticeable in the mornings because when I wake up, there is a song, or a fragment of a song, already spinning round and round in there and it will often continue for an hour or two. Continue reading
Living and Dying with Giant Breed Dogs
Before I brought home our first Saint Bernard puppy I did a lot of research about Saint Bernards and giant breed dogs in general. Because I’ve always lived with dogs, I wasn’t interested in learning more about general dog care, but rather, the types of things I needed to consider before bringing home a puppy that would eventually be the size of a full-grown man. Continue reading
Get Your New Year’s Eve Weird on in PA
A million people are expected to spend New Year’s Eve in Times Square to watch the famous ball, crafted out of Waterford Crystal, slowly descend to welcome in 2017. Millions more from around the world will watch the event unfold on their televisions. But New York City isn’t the only place to be that evening. Many cities and small towns in Pennsylvania also have New Year’s Eve celebrations where things are dropped. Weird things. Pennsylvania has taken the art of dropping things, or in some cases, raising things, to a whole new level as the clock strikes midnight on December 31st. Continue reading
The Good-Looking Goat
I saw the goat first. It was walking along the woods at the edge of the field heading towards the road. When I pointed it out to my husband Steve, he went into the garage and came back with some dog food in an old metal coffee can. Standing in the driveway, he began shaking the can. The goat turned and headed in our direction. Continue reading
Splendippity 