Friends and Peaches

Friday
I was having another one of those days again yesterday..the mirror one. I hated everything I saw, my hair, my smile, my entire profile. I was missing everyone , feeling alone and wishing I had more friends close by.

Then my cell phone rang and it was Diane, whom I haven't heard from in months. Later in the day Elaine whom I've known since I was 8 called from Florida. Later yet I had a call from Zak and I realized that I wasn't alone at all. Just far away....

Still, it is the first of August and summer is on the wane.

SundayMorning

I finally got myself out of the house yesterday and drove to Bennett Orchards which is about 2 miles away. They had yellow freestone and white peaches ready so I picked half and half. Before I know it, I had 17 # Now I have my work cut out for me!! T $1 a lb. they are quite a bargain.


Bennetts is not open everyday. They post signs out on the road when they are open for picking, and if you call you can find out what section of the orchard is open.. They grow several kinds of peaches as well as nectarines. They also sell to most of the grocery stores and produce stands in the area but there is a wholesome feeling to picking your own.

Last year I made some preserves , a few cobblers and pies then froze the rest. That is the problem, they all ripen at once.

We had company over the weekend.
Tommy and Martha came down Saturday night and left early this morning. It was great to see them. It's the first time they've seen Jim since he went into the hospital, and were surprised as how well he looks.
We got up early on Sunday, had breakfast at the diner, and caught the 10:15 Ferry to Cape May. We got on as foot passengers, so we rode the shuttle into town. There are so many old Victorian mansions to see, many are B&B's, and all of them have huge flower gardens, some color coordinated with the awnings, or shutters, rockers on the veranda..very classic and nostalgic. What a contrast to our beaches here. Very gentile.
We walked for hours. There are lots of little shops and boutiques, the usual over priced t shirts and fudge stores. We got caught in a sudden thunderstorm with some scary lightening strikes, so we ducked into a little restaurant called Freda's Cafe and had lunch. Tiny place, maybe 10 tables total but delicious food. It' was so small that you had to go outside to the rest room which was on the side of the building. Very strange.
We caught the Ferry back to Lewes and sailed right into the storm in our crossing. It was a little rocky but fun to watch the lightening on the water.
What could end a perfect day? How about steamed crabs and corn for dinner. We were all worn out after that and everyone was in bed by 11. What a lively group of Seniors we are.
Our visit was short but fun, Beau was friendly and entertaining. Everyone loved him. He's definitely a part of the family now.

Good Morning,
It's been very hot here all week, so of course I decided to clean out some of the stuff in the garage. There is a new Goodwill Store nearby, and they assist you with drop offs, very convenient. It's been a purging experience, letting go of things that are no longer being used.
I've been thinking a lot about the new baby and remembering my first experience with a new born. I don't know if I'm unusual but once the baby came, it suddenly had nothing at all to do with that bulge in my tummy for 9 months. It had its own persona and attitude regardless of what I expected or desired. It was a separate entity, not this cute little ball that made it uncomfortable to sleep and gave me occasional heartburn. It cried, ate, pooped and slept when it wanted, not when I wanted.
Yes, Primo had colic and I was a wreck.
We had this wind up swing that would keep him quiet for about 15 minutes but once it stopped moving, the crying would start again. Even cranking the swing up would startle him awake again. I believe
this was around the time my husband invested in earphones for his stereo, a wise move.
I felt dismayed...frantic...betrayed..Where was that cute Gerber Baby? That serene Mother and child from the box of Ivory Flakes? Had I been mislead?
My Doctor assured me that it would pass, and also if he gave the baby to another caregiver it would go away completely. ( a tempting offer at the time) but I got his point. After the 3 month period, the colic subsided, the baby slept more and everything improved. So much so that when Segundo came along he was much easier to handle.
Hope you don't get this 2x. I was having trouble with the laptop.

Good Morning,
We had a scare last night when we couldn't find Beau for about 1/2 hour. I was dinner time and he rarely misses that, plus he is generally within 2 feet of me at all times.
After running around the house, checking closets, between doors and storm doors, even the dryer (OMG), he wandered out all sleepy eyed from under the loveseat. I was so relieved. I thought I saw him on the front steps, but it was Bitsy. They really do look alike and now that her baby weight is gone, she looks smaller. She could be his sister.
Thank you all who voted in the poll. I don't know if it was your influence or not, but I have been invited to spend time with the new parents for the first week. I think I need to so that the reality will set in. It still seems unreal to me. I can't remember the last time I held a newborn. Probably one of Diane's kids.
I am hoping to spend some time with my friend Debbie while I am there as well. We will probably spend our time in the Korean Market and DeKalb farmers Market and discussing food like we always do. Ah. life in Atlanta is good.
Ciao

Mirrors and Back to School

Good Morning,

I thought I'd take a break from the tag questions and just chat. I am having one of those mornings where I just hate everything, like mirrors.I showered and washed my hair before going to bed last night and today my hair looks just like my mothers flat wig. Definitely time for color and cut, and definitely product. Help!

Any way, I think once you hit 55+ all mirrors should be banished. I can be feeling really energetic and creative, then catch a glimpse of myself and jump...who is that old person, and why is she wearing my clothes? Suddenly I *Feel my Age*. OK, I admit that I do have aches and pains especially where I broke my leg, but on the inside I, in my soul and heart, I still feel young and inquisitive. I don't have all the answers, just some experience

I guess I believe that everyone is my age, and I am everyone Else's, be it 18 or 80. I've always thought I adapt well. Unfortunately I have encountered people who just don't get it. They usually don't like me or trust me. They don't realize my *genuineness* because they judge me by their own values. I try not to let it bother me but alas, I am also very fragile by nature and still don't understand why you can't win them all.

Another thing that is disturbing me is that I saw my first BACK TO SCHOOL AD. C'mon, it's only July. Give the kids a break.

I've always loved summer as you know, barefoot lazy carefree days, late bedtimes, sleeping in, vacations at the shore and later the ocean, swimming pools and of course steamed crabs. But in August, when the slant of the sun started changing, and the shadows growing longer I could feel it coming....the end.Then came the Ads...new notebooks, paper, lunch boxes.

As an adult I have come full circle in my feelings .

Once I had my own kids, the beginning of school was a relief, some structure, some free time and as a single working Mom, no more daytime baby sitting worries.

Then the boys went away to Andover at 14.

I felt the sadness again. The house would be empty and dark when I came home The drive up to the school in the fall was always bittersweet..

Now that I am older, I still feel the loss of summer but I've learned appreciate the Fall for the colors and the clean fresh air. Also since living at the beach the Fall means fewer tourists, less traffic and noise. And that's a good thing.

Favorite Childhood Memory

#2 Question on Trin's List, Favorite Childhood Memory

Aside from the holiday memories, Thanksgiving at Aunt Mina's and Christmas at our house, I guess it would be the summers we spent at the shore.

The day after school let out, we would pack up from E. Biddle St. TV and Cat in tow, and move to Seneca Creek for the summer. Mom and Daddy rented a cottage along with Aunt Mina and Uncle Ernie, and Aunt Lee and Uncle George. Since we were the only family with kids, and Mom didn't work, we lived there until Labor Day while Daddy commuted to work in the city. Everyone else came down on the weekends.

It was a simple 2 bedroom bungalow up on cinder blocks with a living room, a kitchen and dining area and a large screened porch that the men closed in with windows that could be shut in bad weather. When every one was there the sleeping arrangements were different. I slept in a double bed with Mom in the back bedroom. Daddy, David and Uncle Ernie slept out on the porch . Aunt Mina slept on a studio couch in the living room, and Uncle George and Aunt Lee slept in the other bedroom. Why they had their own space I don't know, but their room was off limits always!!

We had no indoor plumbing, but we did have a 2 seater outhouse. Uncle Ernie seemed to be in charge of that, pouring lye down the holes and trying to deodorize it somewhat. Of course the *Honey dippers* came if anything got out of hand.

Mom kept a pot under the double bed for emergencies. Daddy was known to go to the outhouse in the middle of the night but never without his hat which he kept by the door.

One of my daily chores when I got old enough was to fill buckets with water from the Hudson's pump which was a few houses away. I probably spilled half of it on the way back. The Hudson's were locals who lived there year round which seemed odd in those days. All the other properties around us were seasonal.

Since the floors were linoleum, no carpeting, Mom just had to get Daddy off to work, make the beds, sweep or wet mop, dust, plan dinner and she was done for the day.We would walk down to the beach area where I played in the sand and swam, and she would read and lay in the sun. David played baseball over on the the Walter's field with some other boys of various ages. Since this wasn't an ordinary neighborhood, it was hard to find someone your own age to play with. I was only 7 or younger and I had one friend who was 13, and another one who was 4. Mary Ellen Walters was the older one, and she told me the truth about Santa. I didn't like her much after that so I chose to play dolls with the little girl. I would dress our cat Lucky up in baby clothes and try to push him in a carriage. Of course he would be humiliated, and jump out and run away. He looked so odd in a dress on and his tail hanging out the back. He had a great disposition.

Sorry this got posted 2x. This is me at 18 mos on the beach The lady os Mom

We did however, spend many evenings on the Walter's huge 3 sided screened in porch, playing Parcheesi and other board games by the yellow bug lights until we were called home for bed. The summer days were endless and the nights were fun. We washed up in a porcelain basin, but once a week we got to Bathe in the big galvanized tub, hair washed and everything cleaned properly.


Once in a while we would drive up to the city with Daddy so Mom could do laundry, get the mail and check on things. Grandmom and Pop Ruppert lived with us so the house was always occupied.

There were lots of parties at the shore, crab feasts and such. We had a real beer tap and a Coca Cola cooler stocked with all flavors of Suburban Club soda. If we were having crabs, the men would go early in the morning to buy the live crabs, usually from Mrs. Miller who lived just down the road a piece. She had live boxes and dipped the bushel out by hand.





Then there was the ritual of steaming them, another Uncle Ernie chore. We had a huge crab pot made from a sawed off beer keg. This was before pre mixed seasoning so he carefully layered the crabs, salt, black pepper, cayenne, dry mustard and I think celery seed. Then another layer of crabs and so on. Water and vinegar and a Natty Boh or some other beer, maybe Gunthers was in the bottom of the pot which was then covered with canvas and a heavy lid to come to a boil and steam for a precise amount of time. When the crabs were done, they were laid out on the newspaper covered picnic table to cool. We never ate them hot. They were always room temperature which in my mind, gives the fat a chance to congeal and lets the seasoning settle in








I loved crabs.

Crab Feast with Aunt Neil, Aunt Rose, Uncle John, Shirley
Nancy, Uncle Henry etc. Sept. 1947

In the beginning I was only allowed to eat the claws, but I quickly learned to pick the main body as well as the adults.

Daddy's Boat and me (Age 4) waiting for a Claw

The Good Humor Man would always drive by on the weekends, ringing his bell and like Pavlov's dogs all the kids would go running home for money. Not me. Uncle Ernie would say, Ice cream or crabs ? No contest. That became one of his favorite stories ever and he loved telling it to all my boyfriends when I got older.

Cousin Freddie making a rifle out of a Croquet Mallet

I have no idea why but there was this Old Wives tale or what we would call now an Urban Legend that if you ate Crabs and Ice Cream you would die. Since that generation of adults had the depression mentality, I can't help think it had to do with the money. Either that or poor refrigeration.



The company would arrive by car in the early afternoon. Sometimes it was family sometimes friends from the home neighborhood. We had a stone driveway, which would make a crunching sound when the cars pulled in past the house to park. The party would get underway, the crabs being the main event. They would play cards, bingo, some would swim. We had croquet and badminton. I'm sure there was other food but the Crabs were the bomb.

Note the Out house behind Aunt Mina

The Fourth of July was the best because someone always fired off flares and other fireworks over the river and the reflection made them look spectacular.

I loved when we had company because we usually always had a crab feast. Sometimes Daddy would play the guitar and everyone would sing. It was fun and happy.

On the pier with Aunt Lee, David, Aunt Beth, In the hammock with Uncle Ernie

Daddy had built a boat and kept it tied to the pier. Sometimes I would go with him after dinner while it was still light and sit in the boat while he fished. It wasn't much fun because he kept telling me to stop moving around, sit still, you are scaring the fish away but that was OK. I just liked being with him.






Sometimes in the morning, I would take a string and hook and a piece of bread and catch little bluegills and sunnies with dough balls by dropping a line through the cracks in the pier. They were way to small to keep, but it was rewarding none the less.



The people next door to us, the Novaks, rented out their waterfront during the week to companies and others who wanted a place for a picnic outing. Many a morning as I woke up on a lazy summer morning. the bedroom curtains lightly blowing, with the sweet aroma of honeysuckle filling the room, I would hear the crunch of gravel as the cars drove past to the Parking area and just feel happy to be alive and have another day to explore the summer.



Today, that sound still invokes those memories. When Jim and I first into our house, we had a gravel driveway and when we had it asphalted I missed it. Still, the first summer breeze ruffling the curtains while I lay between cool sheets still remind me of how lucky I was to have those sweet innocent fun and relaxing moments in time that live forever in my mind.

Tagged By Trin Question 1

OK,

I have been tagged by Trin to answer 10 questions on my Blog. I am requesting that she do the same :-).

Question 1: 5 random facts/habits about yourself

Hmmm...... Those I am willing to reveal...

1. I once was good friends with Pat Moran and she cast me in Female Trouble. I also went to high school with David Lochary, one of John Water's main players who died young, and it was at my house, my birthday party, that he asked Joann Neuman to go steady in the 6 th grade. Obviously it was before he came out, but a wise choice as she was very smart and class president all the way through high school.

2. I was only 18 when I married Barry, but one night he took me to Leon's. (Famous Gay Bar in Baltimore) I was wearing high black boots and a cape, my hair cut short and I got served using his driver's license. I also got stoned for the first time outside on the parking lot, and couldn't stop laughing.

3. I always talk to strangers on the street, in the store etc. I truly think everyone has a story to tell and if not, I make one up. is amazing what you can learn.

4. My friend Debbie and I danced topless on a bar one night, but no one was there. It was after hours, and the owner had passed out . I'll bet that one gotcha!!!

5. I worked for Johnny Unitas' Golden Arm for 7 years and got so excited one day when he was having lunch with Brooks Robinson that I sent a *casual *acquaintence to my house with my keys to grab a picuture of Brooks off the LR wall for him to autograph. I met many Colts over the years and due to my relationship with Rocky we socialized in that circle, but Brooks.. he was my hero.