Category: Randomness

We pulled up logs and gathered around the camp fire, roasted marshmallows and anxiously waited for the big show to begin.  We were all very hopeful this years fireworks show would be the best ever.  Come to think of it, the 4th of July has always been one of those hopeful holidays. Most of the time, the weather is questionable so we spend a lot of time with the weather channel, hoping for a favorable forecast.  We call traveling family and hope they’re safe and getting close enough to start the barbecue. Then we hope there is enough propane in the tank to cook all the burgers and hot dogs. We hope the corn on the cob is sweeter than last years.

I spent the morning in our crawl space going through box after box looking for old photographs of our kids when they were babies. Anyone beside me have packets full of unmarked photos from forgotten vacations, ancient Christmases, birthdays where you hardly recognize yourself?

He was there the day I was born. I wasn’t able to see him but I could feel his presents. Come to think of it, I actually don’t know of a time when I wasn’t aware of him even if only in the background of my life, occasionally blocking the tracks I was screaming down in a near head on collision. There was no escaping him, like hiding in a closet or anything. There are those you can’t really hide from, no matter what, and he has always been one of them.

We gathered around the first beach fire of the summer last night. Not a giant roaring bon-fire, but a fire big enough to keep us warm, yet small enough for safety. The stars and the moon were out. Moonlight reflected across the water from one end of the bay to the other. There was no movement in the air and the water was smooth as glass. Pure magic!

I’ve been gone a while. I think a little too long, actually. Stepping through the front door last night was like slipping back into my own skin.  Oh my, how good it feels! Travel is wonderful for many reasons but sometimes I think the most important reason is the appreciation it gives me for home. Even the never ending layer of sand and dog hair was a welcome sight as I scanned the kitchen and great room wearing a huge smile and sighing contentedly. It’s so good to be back to all that smacks of me, him, us.

My father sang a special song to me when I was a child, as I dug moats around my sand-castles and designed dixie-cup turrets atop the castle walls. I’ll never forget the day I heard the song being played on the radio. I’d had the idea my father had made it up, just for me. It was shocking to discover there were other Mary Ann’s in the world sharing my song. The words went like this: “All day, all night, Mary Ann. Sitting by the sea-side sifting sand.” When I was small, I spent every minute of every summer goofing off at our family lake home in Northern Idaho. That’s what I was put on this earth to do. Why else would Dad so cheerfully sing that song all the time?

At a recent family gathering, it was brought to my attention how so many of us come into the world with a malfunctioning filter. I was amazed by the number of times the women had to stop the men mid-sentence to remind them to put their filters on. Some of the men were apparently born without the knowledge or ability to develop their filters,  or perhaps they don’t have one at all.  It’s a big job to design and implement filters on some of these guys. They’re the ones that get a thought in their heads and the thought just comes flying out of their mouths without going through the filter first. We all know how much damage has been done over the years because of the lack of a good filter. It’s the same way with mufflers. Ever notice how so many men slap their hand down on the table to make a point, causing everyone in the room to jump? Ever notice how many booming voices could be lowered about ten octaves so the rest of us can hear ourselves think? What is it with the need to be heard, loud and clear, clean into the next county?…

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I’ve never had a connection with sausages. They’ve always been a food to eat when living under a rock without the internet to tell us what’s in them. Or without the common sense to look on the package and read the list of death inducing ingredients.  Like when we’re in that frantic stage of life when all we do is run around with our heads in the sand because it’s easier than facing one more issue to deal with. Pulling my head out years ago was an eye opener. Obviously, I could no longer eat a sausage. Then the foodies got in a snit and insisted on being able to partake of really great sausages that wouldn’t put them in cardiac arrest. Wallah! Ninety seven percent fat free turkey, tequila, and lime sausage! It’s not a heart attack waiting to happen after all, and they’re loaded with flavor. But what’s with the strangely edible little jackets all sausages come in? If the sausage wasn’t wearing the jacket, would it just spill out all over the place like a muffin top bulges out over the top of really tight jeans.?  Or like some breasts do that are lifted and served up…

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It’s possible that making a difference in the lives of those around us isn’t as big a deal as I originally thought. There was a time I believed in order to truly impact someone’s life, I would need to perform a great feat, putting in lots of time and labor. As it turns out, it isn’t true. Although it took putting many years behind me, I’ve come to realize that it’s actually quite easy. I’ve been making an effort to look people in the eye more often and smile, thereby acknowledging them on a personal level. This all came about simply. One day I was loading my groceries into the car and it struck me that I couldn’t walk back into the store and point to the checker whose line I had just gone through. That brought me back to that old saying, “children are to be seen but not heard.”  I realized it was a bad attitude I was applying to my own life, with a twist. Most people around me, in my day to day living, were being heard but not seen.  I could go grocery shopping and not see the checker, go to the movies, buy a…

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I’ve been trying to be so good lately; eating plenty of fruits and vegetables and staying away from sugar, white flower and salt. It works. I start losing those extra pounds that I vow every day of my life to lose. My clothes are noticeably easier to slip in and out of. I don’t have to lay down on the bed to zip my jeans. What a relief. Then I try on the special skirt that I just love to wear all the time, but have to be skinny to wear. It zips! I’m so happy I can hardly stand it. Soon, most everything in my closet is good to go, all my exercise and calorie counting paying off big time. Nothing makes me happier! So happy in fact that a celebration is in order. Now, finally, I can have that glass of wine I’ve been denying myself. Oh, so good! And then just one little piece of chocolate. After all, I deserve it. I’ve been a saint in the diet and exercise department for long enough and if you don’t allow yourself a treat once in a while, resentment follows. Wouldn’t want that. Two weeks later the skirt doesn’t…

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