Buy Locally

When we found out that two strands of the Christmas tree lights didn't work, we started looking around Seymour for replacements.  They had to be red to join with the rest of the lights.

On Friday morning, we tried Family Dollar, Dollar General and ShopKo but none of them had a string of red lights.  They had clear lights, mixed lights, blue lights, and pink lights, but that wasn't what we needed. Gary thought we would have to brave the Black Friday crowds in Appleton. I told him he would have to go on his own.  I hate those crowds.  He first checked on line and found that Walmart had the string of light we needed for $4.99.

But first we had our lunch at the China Garden, newly opened.  It took a while, because the owner had never figured that the first day would be so busy and didn't have a big staff ready.  She was wrong.  All of us Seymourites who had been drooling ever since the rumor about the restaurant began circulating jumped at the lit up "open" sign.  Most of their customers were construction and mill workers. Some women came in for big take out orders.  We were happy to wait while we looked at the extensive menu. The food was delicious so we will be regular customers.

After Gary and I finished our lunch, he drove home to get ready for his trip to Appleton, but I decided to take a walk and look for those lights in a few other places.  I checked the grocery store and spent some time gossiping with a friend. (I always meet someone I know there.)  Next I went to the Ace Hardware store.  It's one of the city treasures, an historical building which has been a hardware store for almost 150 years.  The wood floors are still the same as they were when I was a child.

"Any lights?" I asked.  The clerk pointed to a display a few feet away and there they were, the exact lights we needed and for only $1.99 a string.

I bought the lights and called Gary, catching him before he left for the big city.  

By shopping locally, we saved $3.00 on the string and over $10.00 in gas. It's always best to see what our town has to offer.

Now I can finish decorating that Christmas tree.

Shades of Green

"Shades of Green", my depressing Christmas story is now posted at http://blackcoffeefiction.blogspot.com

Almost all of my stories contain an element of fact.  They are based on something that I know has happened to someone, if not to me.  My imagination takes flight from that starting point.

"Shades of Green" is probably as close to fact as anything I've written so far.  I did indeed have to do my son's paper route twenty five years ago when he was sick, though as I recall, it was on Easter, not at Christmas.  It was an enormous route with extremely heavy newspapers with inserts on Sundays and holidays.  

The bedroom I described was mine from the hanging plants to that Kelly green afghan.  I did not, however, have a therapist...though I probably could have used one after that morning.  

Most of my stories start with character.  From time to time, I have been an actress.  There is no other way to act than to immerse oneself in the character to the point of becoming that person even off stage.  That can be disconcerting to family and friends.  

The same is true of the writer.  You create a character and watch them do things almost on their own. You live with them even when away from the keyboard.  

Abby, the heroine in "Shades of Green" is not me.  She is more fearful, more considerate of others than I am.   Yet once in a while, there are parts of Abby that I recognize in myself.  I do my best to quash them.  

Please read the story...and write comments, good or bad. 

Next Holiday!

We finished our simple Thanksgiving meal, the Packer game was over and it was time for Gary to go into action.  He set up the big tree in the dining room and started adding the lights until we found out two strings no longer worked. We'll pick up more lights late tomorrow afternoon after the Black Friday nonsense is over.  Then I'll hang the ornaments, six decades worth of treasures. 

Gary dug out two more trees, small fiber optics, and put one in my office and one in his.

Yet to come, the tree in the living room, plus six trees on the front deck.

We weren't done yet.  I put the Christmas wreath on the front door.  The wreath for the cemetery requires a new ribbon but it will be out there by the weekend.  Gary decorated the mirror at the top of the stairs. Soon all the other mirrors in the house will have the same treatment.

All the lights are on timers to save on electricity, most of the lights are LED and of course, with all of this light show, our household lights are mostly off.  There is never any surge in our electric bills during the holidays.

I don't expect Gary to be done until just before my Solstice party.  At that point, we'll be totally tacky, but who cares!  It's Christmas!  

New Restaurant

Summer before last, Cheezy Jim McMaster keeled over with a massive heart attack at his pizzeria and that was the end of one of Seymour's best restaurants. Gary and I missed Jim and his great sandwiches we ordered once a week.

Jim's widow, Susan, sold the place this summer and we all wondered what would show up there next.  By the end of July the word was out, we would have a Chinese restaurant. I love Chinese food and began to dream of all my favorites.

Whenever I walked to the library, I made a point of peeking in the door to see what was going on.  The new owners gutted the entire interior.  They put in a brand new stainless steel kitchen.  When the light board with the take out menu went into place at the beginning of October, I began to get excited, and I wasn't the only one. Almost every one in town loved Chinese food, I found.

Whenever I saw one of the workers, I asked, "When?" and they answered with what was apparently the only word in English they knew:  "Soon".  That's what the sign hanging out front said as well.

One day when I was at city hall, I asked the clerk what she knew.  She said they were supposed to open up on November 1.   It didn't happen.  

I ran across the woman who will be managing the place and she explained that the county inspector decided the place needed a new furnace.  It was ordered the same day but it meant another long, long wait. The "opening soon" sign began to fade.

I kept walking by, peering in the window.  Beautiful Chinese lanterns were installed.  There were new tables and wall hangings.  When, oh when would we be dining on chicken and cashews, or moo goo gai pan, or dozens of other favorites?

At the pool, the lifeguards kept asking me about it because they knew I was keeping an eye out.  We talked about our favorite foods and we drooled into the chlorinated water.

Then this morning on my morning walk, I spotted the Chinese owner going into the BP station.  I went in, too, and there she was, giving the manager a menu.  She recognized me and said, "We open on Friday!"

I read the menu through and found all my favorites there.  Oh, what joy!

So forget Thanksgiving!  Oh, Gary and I will have a special little meal and all, but all the while I will be planning on what we'll eat the next day when we help open The China Garden.

Car Problems

As I drove home from Appleton yesterday, I noticed a light on the dashboard. I pulled along side the road and pulled out the car manual.  It was the brake light.  Something was wrong, but I was close to home and the brakes were working, so I continued. When I got home, Gary checked it out and found out the brake fluid was down, and pointed out a puddle on the garage floor.  We bought brake fluid and filled the well.  

This morning the well was still full, so I drove the car around town to see what would happen. The fluid seems fine.  If there is a leak, it is a very slow one.  I called my mechanics but with the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, their customers wanted their vehicles checked out.  They couldn't look at my car until next week.  

We'll watch the fluid carefully over the next few days.  On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I plan to drive to Appleton to have dinner with Chris, Tisha and Evan and a few others.  After that, I am to meet my friend Norma in Oshkosh, coming home rather late.  

All of this is dependent on the brakes working, of course. I have a can of fluid in the car and you can be sure I will keep watching the dashboard for that light.   

Another Senior Citizen

Gary and I are both senior citizens, in our 60s.  We are not however, the oldest occupant of Mathom House. That honor goes to Rascal.  He is 18 and 1/4 in cat years but converted to human years, he would be around 90 years old.   

I have rheumatoid arthritis and Gary has his own aches and pains from falling off motorcycles and other youthful accidents.  Rascal is getting stiff, too.  Most days he can jump up on our laps, but sometimes he misses.  This is a source of embarrassment for a cat.  Sometimes he just sits and meows and I pick him up and plop him on my legs.  

These days, Rascal is sleeping most of the day, preferably on a warm lap.  He likes his ears scratched.  At night, he sleeps at the foot of my bed.   

When Rascal arrived in my house ten years ago, he hated being covered by a blanket. He immediately clawed his way out of it, biting if necessary. These days, he loves it when we cover his old body with fleece on a cold day.  An electric blanket is even better.

Winter is hard on us old geezers.  I hope we all make it to spring.

It's Only a Game!

Today was another Packer game day. The church was having a financial meeting/lunch but it could only happen if the Packer game was shown on the big screen in the church.  This happens all the time in Wisconsin.

When our ecumenical choir committee met to select dates for rehearsals and the concert, we had to have the Packer schedule in front of us.  If pastors know a game is at noon, they make their sermons short. Here in Wisconsin, religion is not as important as football.

For someone like me, who thinks it's just a game, the whole thing is a mystery, but I like the fans for their sheer insanity. The clothes they wear reflect who they are. All sweatshirts are green and gold. Any extra cash must be spent on some kind of  Packer gear.

Packer fans are certain that visitors from another country should immediately be shown the Packer Hall of Fame.  They don't comprehend that football is an American and (to a lesser extent) a Canadian phenomenon.  A New Zealander would not mind seeing a rugby game.  A Brit would enjoy a cricket match.  Japanese and South Americans love baseball.  Instead, visitors to Wisconsin are dragged over to Green Bay to admire the history of a game they don't understand.

My mother was one of the crazy fans.  When I was still a teenager, she noticed that when I watched a game, the Packers lost.  She asked me to go off and do something else, which I thought an excellent idea. Years later, she was still calling me wherever I lived to ask if I was watching the game. The Packers were losing. It must be my fault.

I told Gary about that when he caught Packer fever. In his eyes, I became the jinx my mother believed I was.  Today, I walked through the living room and just then the opposing team (no idea who they were) scored a touchdown.

Leave, Gary said.  I went for a walk.  When I came back it was half time.  Nothing for it, I went swimming and took another walk after that.

It worked.  The Packers won.