May 9, 2014

Another random thought day...

It seemed as though it was just moments after I clicked the "publish" button for my last post, that the Indigo Bunting, (named for its deep, deep blue coloring) joined the rest of the bright color play at the feeders outside the kitchen window.

And as did the others, its numbers multiplied exponentially as the day went on.

The Indigo Bunting.
(Courtesy of the Reader's Digest North American Wildlife Guide) 

Spring has finally arrived in Wisconsin.

.....

I spent the day yesterday on my computer.  

The first order of business was to fill out some official forms (online) making me an official candidate for the position I will be interviewing for. The forms (and miscellaneous paperwork) trigger the proper protocol in the Human Resources Department and are required in order to continue the formal interview process. 

I'm really thrilled to be at this juncture.  

Really thrilled.

If everything goes as I would expect it to, I will be happily (and gainfully) employed at an amazing and respected organization, almost to the day of my first day of unemployment.

I've been unemployed an entire year.

Hard to comprehend. 

Tough to believe.

Grateful for where I am now.

.....

I also did a small favor for my niece Sarah.

She is the weekend Hostess at Howie's Restaurant. That was where I got my first job.

It's not the same building, but it's the same restaurant.

I started bussing tables when I was 14 years old, was promoted to waitress and soon was the first one in, in the morning, to open the breakfast service.

I had to set all the tables with the appropriate condiments, mostly an array of little grape and strawberry jelly packets. Make sure the syrup containers were filled and wiped clean of the layers of stickiness that covered them by midday. Put on the 6 coffee pots. And wait for the crowds to rush through as soon as the doors opened.

It was a very popular place for the tourists...and quite an economical venture.

Back then, Howie's was known for Howie's HUGE BREAKFAST: 1 egg, 2 pancakes, hash browns, toast & jelly, and I'm pretty sure a choice of bacon, ham or sausage. All that for 99 cents.

It's still called Howie's HUGE BREAKFAST, but there's no bacon, ham or sausage and it's $4.95.

I remember that people complained because coffee or orange juice wasn't included! 

And tips were in pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters. I still managed to haul in the cash because of the sheer number of people who came through those doors.

And Howie? Well....

He was a very.....Hmmmmm?  He was a very...eclectic personality.

I can picture him vividly still, his measured gate as he walked back and forth, hurriedly, from the kitchen to the dining room making sure everything was moving at the pace that he set. Yelling orders to the cooks and then to the waitresses, to the bus people and then to his family members, who all worked at the restaurant.

His face was always moist from the heat of the kitchen. His hair, longer on the top than the sides, would fall down over his forehead in a curled, tousled manner, kind of like the young Elvis. (More about him, later.)

Anyway, the menu hasn't been revamped in years. Some offerings listed were no longer offerings, prices had changed and changed again. 

My niece asked if I could reorganize and rewrite the menu "using my computer."

Coming from the industry that I come from - and having lived in sizable cities most of my adult life - I sometimes forget that not everyone has a computer or the skills to use it.

So, I quickly agreed and took on the project.

It took much longer than I thought it would, but it's done.  It is organized. It looks good. The words are all spelled correctly (there were some problems with Chipotle and Smiley, as in Smiley Face Pancakes).

My niece is happy. And she has a most wonderful smile when she's happy.

.....

As for Elvis?

I had another 15 or more boxes to sort through that were all labeled as "Paula's."

They were filled with High School Yearbooks, College Yearbooks, Photography books; souvenirs from my trip to Europe my senior year of high school (funded by working at Howie's and another restaurant, The House of Embers); and mementos from my world travels aboard the luxurious cruise ship, the Royal Viking Sky, as the onboard newspaper editor of the daily publication, The SKALD.

That 10-month stint aboard the Sky is topic for another day...especially since I found some notes, in one of those boxes that I made while sailing the seas.  I wouldn't call it a diary, but it's enough to remind me of the flavor of those 10 months. 

It was actually a 12-month contract, but we ran aground on a coral reef near the Dominican Republic and had to be towed off as salvage...as the passengers were served champagne and snacks. 

Food does a lot to soothe emotions, and there was a lot of food on that ship!

I digress.

Back to Elvis.

I found pictures of the men in my life.  My teenage, "oh, isn't he the cutest?" life. 

I, like countless teenage girls before me (and after me), pasted, taped and otherwise attached pages of magazines displaying my "heartthrob" of the moment onto the walls of my bedroom, the closet and anything else with a flat surface. 

At any one time, the pictures might include Elvis, Bobby Sherman, Randolph Mantooth (he was the guy from the 70s television show, "Emergency"), the Osmond brothers and The Jackson 5.

The men in my life.

Elvis photos from my bedroom wall, 1972.

Be still my beating heart.

It's the same bedroom that Harry and I share today. But the walls are covered with Harry's (and Mommy's) artwork instead of a young Elvis with the quivering lip.

Our bedroom wall, 2014.

.....

Harry has been fortunate to have had all the opportunities that he's had. Exposing him to new adventures and experiences has been a wonderful thing to share. 

There were things that we used to do with regularity in the big city, like visiting the New England Aquarium, going on a whale watch out of Boston Harbor, visiting the parks and museums. There are many, many things that he has seen and done for his very young age.

But he's also very fortunate to be getting his "country" education.

He's like an old farm hand around the "barn yarn" (as he calls it.) He isn't phased by going into the Fallow Deer Jurassic Park-like pen, surrounded by 30 or so deer; visiting the chickens to collect freshly laid eggs; petting the turkey (yes, petting the turkey); climbing the hay bales in the barn or greeting Sa a la Russian in a deep horse-style whinny while he strokes his muzzle. That's the horse's nose for us city folk.

Afternoon climbing in the barn.

Harry is right at home in the country.

In addition to the farm animals, he has seen a fox, rabbits, a raccoon, wild turkeys, cranes, egrets, White Tail deer, Bald Eagles, turkey vultures, assorted other birds (including the array at the bird feeders) and a skunk.

Harry and Grandma and I were returning from an evening walk in the big woods.  We were almost at the intersection with my sister's driveway when we saw it.  The skunk, that is.

It was waddling slowly down the road and then it seemed to just fall over.  

It was odd to see a skunk during the daylight hours, of course, because they are nocturnal.

We quietly took the turn down the driveway.  

Grandma explained to Harry, how important it was not to startle the skunk, and to be...as...quiet...as...possible.  

"Shhhhh," she said as she put her finger to her lips. 

I stuck my head in the door to warn those inside about the skunk on the road.

My brother-in-law asked where it was, exactly. And after we left, taking the path through the woods back to Mom's house, the same observation was made inside the house: odd to see a skunk in the daylight.

Gil went to investigate.  The skunk would waddle slowly for a few steps and then seemingly just fall over. After a short while, it would waddle again for a few steps and then fall over.  It continued almost to the end of the road when it took a turn into the alfalfa field.

Gil determined that there was certainly something wrong with the animal. Maybe it was sick? A skunk doesn't normally expose itself in broad daylight and down the middle of an open road. Gil decided to get his gun and shoot it.  

The skunk could make other animals sick (like the barn cats) that it might come in contact with and it was just plain better to be safe than to let it go.

Harry watched as Gil walked to the end of the road and shot the skunk...twice.

I explained why we had to shoot the skunk.  I said that a sick animal could make other animals sick.

Honestly, Harry was more interested in the gun than the skunk and according to Miss Margie was shooting things in school the next day. 

That led to another conversation.

When Harry came home from school, he wanted to know where the skunk was.  I explained that it was still in the alfalfa field until Uncle Gilbert could bury it. 

He wanted to see it.

We walked over to the field to take a look.  I continued to explain to Harry why the skunk had to be shot and about it probably being sick. I talked about how the cycle of life works in nature.

Harry held my hand tightly as we approached.

Dead skunk in the alfalfa.

Before I could stop him...or even knew what was happening...he bent over and petted the skunk. 

It was actually a sweet gesture, but I let out a VERY loud "NOOOOO" as I screamed and hurriedly explained why it wasn't a good idea to pet a dead (and probably sick) skunk.

"But he's my friend," Harry explained.

We went into the house and I used about 5 Clorox wipes to clean each of Harry's hands, even though he only actually touched the skunk with one.

Country life lessons....learned.

.....

Harry is also excited to see the recycling man every other Wednesday.

I'm not sure that it's mutual.

The recycling man has had to deal with a sizable increase of recycling activity at this address in the last several months, since Harry and I have come to stay.

After a couple of Wednesdays, arriving to find monstrous piles of bundled old magazines, he actually asked me one morning if that's what it was "going to be like from now on." 

If it was, he was going to have to "bring another truck."

Magazines piled at the end of the driveway.

Harry on "Recycle Wednesday."

I assured him, despite my finding a few hundred more magazines in the months to come, that it would slow down a bit from our initial offerings.

Then there's the plastic.

The plastic yogurt cups and the water bottles.

Mom has a yogurt a day.  I do the same. Harry has 3 or 4 a day. If you do the math, that's somewhere around 70 yogurt cups in two weeks. Add to that the plastic water bottles (Harry loves water) and you have a considerably large pick-up every other Wednesday.

The favorite: Mango. Honey Vanilla runs a close second.

.....

We burned off the "prairie" last night.

It didn't burn very well after a day of several brief little showers, but most of the old grass is gone to make way for the new growth.  

We can plant the wildflower mix that I sent Mom a couple of years ago.

The old berry bushes will have to be cut down and mowed over.  The pine tree from the front yard was too green to burn, so we'll have to carry that out to the burn pile for a more intense heat.

Mom said that in years past, it has "really taken off," burning the small section in just minutes.

Harry was really excited and he didn't stop talking the ENTIRE time we were outside.

There was a bright spot, of course, to all that chatter.

At least I knew exactly where he was...even through all the smoke!