No Hill for a Climber

On a muggy and sweaty April afternoon, the trusty FedEx truck delivers the pet steps, leaving a bulky and almost unmanageable package that takes up a third of the front porch.  I haul the awkward, triangular shaped container inside and then spend a half hour fending off cats and cutting through a dozen layers of packing tape and industrial strength cardboard.  The folks who make these are serious about their products and leave no room for potential shipping damage - a well placed explosive device couldn't have made an impact - but it's no match for my stubbornness and carving knife.  Waving off cats with one hand, I hack, rip, tear, and slash until the steps are finally liberated.  The dogs, sitting a safe distance away, watch intently but do not approach.

It takes another ten minutes to repair the living room which now looks like the aftermath of a limited nuclear strike, and then I carry/drag/manhandle the three feet of carpeted steps to the bedroom and strategically place them next to the bed.  The dogs trail after me - curious but very cautious - like me, they're change resistant to a fault and aren't at all sure about this new addition.  It takes nearly an hour and more than a dozen treats before they will even get close.  Then another hour of repetition and encouragement, another dozen treats.  Over and over and over, I put their little feet on the first step then nudge and maneuver and coax to keep them there.   The black dog wants nothing to do with the entire process but I think there's hope for the little dachshund - he badly wants to be on the pillows with the kitten - and finally I sit on the bed and call him gently.  He begins to climb tentatively, anxiously, delicately, changing his mind in midstep several times, working up his courage gradually and then with one deep breath and a look of absolute steely eyed determination, he BOLDLY GOES WHERE NO NO DOG HAS GONE BEFORE.  He has conquered his fear and one cautious step at a time, he ascends.  He reaches the top step looking supremely self satisfied (and to be truthful, more than a little surprised), then steps lightly onto the bed.  The crowd goes wild!

Over the next few days, I work with the black dog but get nowhere.  She keeps a respectful distance between herself and the unfamiliar steps and contents herself, if a little resentfully, with being on the floor.  Wisely, the little dachshund shows no interest in bragging about his accomplishment and after a few more days, he no longer needs coaxing, climbing confidently and sure footedly on his own.

Courage is fear holding on a minute longer ~ Patton

Old Dogs, New Tricks

At fourteen, the black dog is still an emotional wreck and a holy terror but she doesn't have the spring in her step she used to when it comes to jumping.  She charges fiercely at the bed only to stop in mid-jump once she reaches it.  Then, like a sprinter, she backs up to get a running start and tries again.  She repeats this process a half dozen times, each attempt getting her closer but not to her goal.  It may be time to make a concession to her age.

Hold on there, tiger, I tell her and slip my hands under her belly to lift her onto the bed where she will, in a matter of minutes, immediately jump off and be back to square one.

The little dachshund doesn't bother with all the trying - he simply paws at me to get my attention and signal that he wants up - and I lift him easily.  His little short legs  and low slung little body aren't designed to jump and the breed is notorious for back and spine injuries.

Age and breeding against me, I finally give in and go on line in search of pet steps.  I'm not at all sure this will be wisely spent money but as my own back isn't getting any younger, I decide to try.

It's amazing what's out there - plastic steps, wooden steps, carpeted steps, fold-up steps, steps that convert to ramps and ramps that convert to steps, narrow steps, wide steps, non-skid steps, steps with side rails.

Good grief, I tell the black dog as I deposit her yet again on the bed and hear her jump down a few minutes later, What happened to simple?

I choose wooden for durability and workmanship, carpeted for stability, and a paw print design just because.

I have a suspicion that a couple of plain old 1X6 boards with a length of carpet glued on would do just as well but apparently fashion matters in the world of doggy steps - who am I to criticize a trend - and besides, I'd hate for word to get out that I was being chintzy with my little ones.  I'm absolutely sure they gossip through the fence with the Maltese next door.

The real question, of course, isn't about fashion or cost or ergonomics, but teaching old dogs new tricks.  Will they use a set of carpeted, wooden steps with a pawprint design?  No telling til we try.

It's said that when Dorothy Parker was asked to use the word "horticulture" in a sentence, she gave the following now infamous reply - You can lead a horticulture but you can't make her think.

God preserve satire and elder dogs and the people who love them.







  

Skates, Bicycles & Music Lessons

Family, for me, is not a bedrock. It’s the hole I’ve crawled out of.
Laura Bogart

We lived on a quiet residential street in a town on the outskirts of Boston, in a two story white house with black shutters and a maple tree in the backyard.  The back yard was good sized and fenced all the way around so that property lines were clear and the dogs were protected.  The front yard, always mowed and green, was neatly divided by a flagstone walkway with a driveway on the side.  The neighborhood was not true upper class as there were a number of two family homes directly across the street and in the blocks on either side of us but it was comfortable.  No one struggled or collected food stamps, most mothers stayed at home, all the cars in the driveways were well cared for and reasonably new.  We had skates (both kinds, ice and rollers), bicycles, music lessons, a color television and went on regular vacations.  We were, from the outside looking in, a perfectly normal, intact family - two parents, three kids, a couple of dogs, public schooling and church every Sunday - unremarkable, ordinary, run of the mill, the very picture of middle America.  It wasn't a difficult illusion to maintain, at least not in the early years.

I was in elementary school when it started to go wrong.  Little things, mostly, my mother's pink Ford convertible parked a little crookedly in the driveway, finding her nodded off over her knitting when I got home from school.  She took to being sickly one or two mornings a week - migraines and some mysterious "woman trouble" my daddy assured us - now and again meals were under or overcooked.  She was more than usually bad tempered, sometimes flat out nasty.  She began to be forgetful, leaving half washed dishes on the kitchen counters or not noticing the overflowing laundry basket in the downstairs bathroom until the smell of mold was so strong that it made your eyes water.  Milk turned, ants would occasionally  be crawling in the sink, once she neglected to turn the iron off and the back door curtains caught fire.  My daddy spent more and more evenings and weekends at work and empty gold Miller beer cans started turning up in the trash, the cabinets, the linen closet, even the piano bench.  Late night fights were common - often punctuated by the sounds of breaking glass or the sharp impacts of solid objects connecting with solid walls - and then slamming doors, crying, the low hum of a stand off, silent but spiteful footsteps on the stairs, wailing and cursing.  It took several more years before things solidified and clarified themselves since no one ever acknowledged the problem in actual words - that would've been telling - but slowly we began to comprehend that the old lady drank like a damn fish and the old man wasn't going to do a damn thing about it.  We were on our own.

When I was older and had learned some of the cold facts about the realities and dynamics of addiction - it's a disease not a bad decision, for example - I might've found a little empathy and a little compassion but for the one inescapable truth about my family.  Truth to tell, I hadn't much cared for my mother for as long as I could remember, drunk or sober.  When not drinking, she was a cold, relentlessly critical, impossible to please and joyless woman who showed no love to anyone, least of all her family.  She cared desperately about appearances but made no secret of her contempt for her failure of a husband or her resentment of the burdens of her children.  When she drank, she was a disgusting, pathetic and dangerous lush, hiding behind the walls of that typical middle American home.  Either way, she used her indiscriminate venom and self pity like a second skin and by the time I was finishing grade school, the mild dislike I'd felt had turned to shame and hate.  I wanted out, with as much distance as possible between us. And I wanted it to be permanent.  My daddy might choose to stay and enable her, my brothers might choose to defend her and keep the liquor cabinet well stocked - as much for their own use as her's so it turned out - but I had had enough of violence and abuse and our own peculiar family values.  For me, the illusion had been exposed, the walls had turned transparent.   Family had always been a far and distant thing and losing it - as I fully expected I would if I were to take a stand - would be more a relief than a sacrifice.

Later on I was to wonder how many other secrets might be hidden behind all the neighboring middle class walls in our ordinary little part of town - how many other children were growing up cold, how many happy marriages were illusion - how many families were living in a hole and pretending it was bedrock.  Here so many years later, I still wonder.

To achieve true peace of mind, so many of my good friends like to tell me, you must forgive.  Anger and hate will eat holes in your soul, will turn you bitter and get in the way of your own inner happiness.

Maybe so.  But I suspect the combination of time, distance and scar tissue will do the same thing with less compromise.  My childhood rage is mostly past tense - I still write about it to remind myself that I survived,
to dodge the occasional flashback - but mostly it's like hauling ashes, a kind of maintenance to keep the old woodstove from clogging up.

Skates, bicycles and music lessons notwithstanding - for some wrongs - forgiveness is just not in my nature.

Neon & Noise

On the one side, there're debutante balls and cotillions for the well bred, young ladies and gentlemen from elite and wealthy backgrounds - very plantation-ish and genteel - and on the other there's the neon and noise of a downtown Saturday night on the riverfront.

The weather is agreeably warm and the stars, artificial and otherwise, are out.  Flying elephants soar in wild circles, carnies hawk their games of skill, the smell of popcorn and cotton candy is everywhere, and a red and blue and yellow neon ferris wheel twirls merrily.  The midway is clatteringly and chatteringly bright with enormous stuffed animals hanging from every booth.  Festival goers try their hand at everything - a pyramid of milk bottles, ducks in a shooting gallery, bingo.  You can buy beer or soda, foot longs or caramel apples. You can ride the screeching roller coaster, brave the tilt-a-whirl (CHILDREN UNDER 5 MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT!!! - now there's an optimistic sign) or creep through the haunted tower, menacingly aglow with alien-like green light.  The adults look tired, the carnies are hoarse, the children are wide eyed and the night is young.

I make my way through the crowd to the surprisingly well lit stage, find a secure corner, and unpack my camera gear.  The young man about to perform is something of a prodigy in our little town - still too young to play in bars, he's been on the music scene since before he was even a teenager - a sweet faced boy with good manners, the stage presence of an experienced and seasoned artist, and a love of music that absolutely shines through every chord and every lyric.  He waves at me, mouths Thank you for coming, and gives me a huge grin.  His mother gives me a hug and offers me a chair while his daddy efficiently goes about the business of setting up sound equipment.  I've always liked these people - they're a close knit and loving family - long on encouragement and support.   They understand family.  They appreciate music.  They respect dreams.

All along the makeshift midway, other families drift from ride to ride, booth to booth, some with children trailing after them like the tail on a kite.  There are lovestruck couples hand in hand, a wandering juggler and a fire eater.  And there are gangs of teenagers - mostly black, loud, scantily dressed, obnoxious - and speaking in a language that sounds only vaguely like English.  They travel in packs, shouting crude remarks and obscenities at each other, body slamming anyone who gets in their way.  Security guards watch them from a distance, now and again pulling one or two aside for a quiet chat.  Earlier in the day I was at the Makers Fair where the crowd was almost exclusively white and I'm struck by the difference in the atmosphere.  No one likes to talk about the underlying racism in this city but it's here and it's undeniable, I can see it on the faces in the crowd and I'm just as sure the same thing is on mine.  The arts and crafts street fairs with their wind chimes and home grown preserves and hair ribbons are one thing - here, at night on the midway, among the pulled pork sandwiches and corn dogs, it's quite another.  Trash is trash, I remind myself, and it comes equally in black and white, but the truth is that I wasn't uncomfortable at the Makers Fair and here I'm all too aware of my color and I feel just the slightest bit of unease.  I feel outnumbered, alone, a tiny bit apprehensive, and a little ashamed of what I'm feeling.  

Somewhere between the pageantry of the black tie traditions and the raucous neon and noise, there's a kind of middle ground where, I think, most of us live and for the most part, get along.  At least I hope so.

Jack & Cap'n Patch

He was called "Cap'n Patch" in honor of Gary Cooper's character in "The Wreck of the Mary Deare", a story of sabotage and a shipwreck and a man with a secret.  At one time, he'd had Cooper's height and easy good looks but life had been hard and by the time he settled back down on the island, he was gray and worn, his back curved like a horizontal comma and he relied heavily on a hand carved wooden cane, walking with slow, shuffling steps and never without a ruined, old, one eyed tomcat named Jack at his side.  Neither was known for affability - they walked the dirt roads in the late afternoons together but rarely returned a wave or a smile - and they spent their evenings alone on the unpainted front porch of Uncle Len's summer house which had been renovated for an artist couple from New York who discovered, after just one July, that island life wasn't for them.  Stoic, trusting to a self imposed isolation, suspicious and reticent - that summed up Jack and Cap'n Patch.

To keep himself in pipe tobacco and the cat in food - Jack, although an expert mouser and connoisseur of fresh mackerel had developed a liking for canned sardines - he made sculpture from driftwood.  Gulls and seascapes, sailing ships and lighthouses and the like, meticulously detailed and exquisitely painted, and Uncle Len would often take a half dozen pieces with him to sell to the tourists on the mainland.  A ship in a bottle once fetched an astonishing hundred and fifty dollars, a fortune at a time when you could buy cigarettes two for a nickel, but Cap never made a second.

Ain't enough life left in these old hands, he sighed and folded the paper money into his pocket, 'Sides, Jack and me, we got all we need.

He took, instead, to carving checkers and chess sets from the smooth, bleached pieces of driftwood we collected - a dime for every red wagon full, a quarter for the really pretty pieces - it was time consuming and demanding work but the finished sets brought high dollars on the mainland and even more at the one or two gift shops along the Digby Neck where tourists would pay ungodly sums for original art by locals.  Jack and Patch were in what the Arkansas travelers called "high cotton" in no time.

Damn foolishness if you ask me, the old seaman muttered, Ain't nothin' a monkey with a sharp knife couldn't do if'n he had the time.

Inevitably, Aunt Tessa - a dear friend of my grandmother's and a high flying specialty store buyer from California - was to discover Cap'n Patch, insisting against my grandmother's stubborn and solid advice, to meet the man and examine his work.

Stunning! she declared, holding up a black knight against the cloud crowded sky, Absolutely riveting work! 
She gave her feather boa a fling, twirled her bright skirts and settled down on the steps Indian style with her stylishly bare feet and painted toe nails tucked beneath her.  So, she demanded breathlessly, Cap'n Patch. Where have you been all my life?

Patch blinked, shifted in his rocking chair as if willing it to move away from the clearly mad woman who had descended upon him.  Tessa calmly reached one bejeweled and bangled hand toward the scarred up old tomcat and began to scratch his ears - we all drew a quick breath, sure there would be blood on the waters - but rather than withdraw, Jack stretched toward her and began to rumble low in his throat, a contented and surprisingly peaceful sound. 

Damnation, I heard my grandmother say, Didn't know the cat had it in him.

Cap'n Patch hesitated, looking from the cat to Aunt Tessa and back to the cat.  The sun moved from behind the clouds.  In one long, graceful motion - Like pouring syrup, Nana said - Jack stretched to his full length and casually rolled onto his back, all four paws extended.  Tessa stroked his exposed belly absently and Patch, so taken aback that he dropped his lit pipe and sparks flew like tiny firecrackers, hardly noticed.  He started to rock, looking somewhere between thoughtful and amused, and then his mouth curved discreetly at the corners and he began to smile. 


Ain't never been one to argue with the cat, he said amiably, Whatcha have in mind, ma'am.

Sooner or later, I wonder, don't we all find a reason to give up our solitude and let go of our secrets.

A Small Violation

To be honest, I was already in a temper.   

The latest software upgrade had - predictably - disabled our system for two days in a row and every other call was from tech support although none had proven useful.  I was tired from listening to their rapid-fire, third world chatter, tired of repeatedly asking them to please slow down and enunciate, tired of their excuses.  A mental health minute seemed called for - I snatched a plastic bottle of water and a single cigarette and went to sit at the back door - the office was at its usual meat market temperature and I thought a few minutes of warmth and quiet might help.

I didn't notice the old car until it had made its third pass - an ancient and uncared for rattletrap with a roaring muffler spewing exhaust - mismatched doors and duct tape holding the rear windshield together.  When it stopped in front of me, my heart sank.  An old woman climbed out, bent and limping and toothless, an old rag wound around her filthy hair and toe-less house slippers on her talon-ed and dirty feet.  The ragged edge of a torn slip hung beneath the hem of her grimy house dress and her ill fitting sweater was stained and faded with age.

Ma'am! she called out to me, Ma'am, you have 'nuther one?

I knew immediately that she meant my cigarette and shook my head.

No, I told her as she advanced steadily, Sorry.

She was so close I could smell the cooking grease and unwashed clothes and when she reached out one gnarly old hand toward me I almost flinched.

Den kin ah have your short?  she asked.

I've lived in the south for a good many years but it still took a second or two to make sense of the words.

Kin ah have your short, she repeated, 'fore you be finishin' it?

I looked at her, then at my cigarette, then back at her.  Was she really asking for my half-smoked cigarette, I wondered, and then realized that not only was she asking, she was expecting.  A twisted old hand with chewed up and dirt rimmed nails was inches away from me making grasping motions.  Somewhere deep in my belly, surprise, disgust and revulsion had a brief, acid-filled battle - an image of my mother surfaced and for an instant I thought I might gag - then the need to put as much distance between me and this sad, nasty, old woman kicked in.  I  shrugged, handed over what was left of my Virginia Slim Menthol Light and scrambled back inside, not exactly hurriedly but not taking my time either.  I didn't want to see her making her way back to the battered old wreck in the parking lot.  I didn't want to think about what would make a person so brazen that they would accost a total stranger for a cigarette.  Hey, look!  I imagined her saying to the driver of the car, There's someone smoking!  Let's get her!  Did they prowl around back doors and loading docks in search of victims?  Was her whole appearance a put on to gain sympathy?  Did I look like someone who wouldn't make protest?  I felt - ridiculous as it sounds - as if I'd been somehow violated. I've smoked for something over fifty years.  It's a vile and dirty habit, I'm not proud of it, and not a day goes by that I don't wish I'd never started (that's addiction for you) but nevertheless, there are rules.  You can, between good if not intimate friends, ask for a drag off someone else's cigarette.  You can bum off a friend and although more rarely, sometimes off someone you barely know.  You can panhandle for a cigarette but not the one someone else is in the process of smoking.

Not much of an infraction, I told myself as I scrubbed my hands in soap and hot water and added hand sanitizer for good measure, but I still wanted to wash it off.

  

Car Notes

It doesn't happen often but one or twice a year the finance company that holds the note on my little car neglects to send me a monthly payment demand notice.  It's annoying because this means I have to call them and go all through all the security nonsense and voice mail obstacles before someone will give me my account number and their payment address.

I explained this to Ryan, the polite and engaging young man at the finance company, and in record time he provided me with my loan number, gave me the mailing address, assured me it hadn't been the slightest inconvenience and wished me the very best day anyone could hope for.  I made myself a note to mail the check first thing in the morning but as sometimes happens, the next morning was mayhem and half over before I remembered.  I snatched an envelope and hurriedly scrawled the address on it, added a stamp, and walked it to the mailbox, not wanting to miss the morning pick up.  It was the next day before I realized I hadn't put the loan number on the check and cursing my forgetfulness, had to make a second call.

I explained this to Annie, the neither polite nor engaging young woman at the finance company, and asked if she would note my account with my telephone number and call when they received the check.

We don't do that, she said shortly, It's automated.

What is? I asked pleasantly although I could already see that this was going to end badly.

There are no people receiving checks, she said impatiently, You'll have to call back or stop payment and send another one.

If, I said carefully, still managing to be civil and not take the bait, there are no people, you must have an awesome automated system.  What exactly happens to checks you can't identify?

We hold 'em, she snapped and this time she made no effort at all to conceal her contempt, You can call back after it's had time to get here.

Well, I said calmly, determined to ignore the red flecks of rage that were beginning to drift across my field of vision, Since none of this would be happening if you'd sent me a monthly bill, perhaps there's some room to make an accommodation here.  At some point, an actual person must.....

We don't do that, she interrupted and it was very close to a snarl.

I counted to ten, took a breath, reminded myself that she wasn't worth it.

How extraordinarily unhelpful you've been, Annie, I said slowly and so sweetly that it made me a little queasy,

Thank you sooo very much.  And hung up.

That was when I looked up and saw our little nurse laughing so hard she was in tears.

In the words of Bette Midler, I told her and smiled in spite of myself, Fuck'em if they can't take a joke.

Pepper Wars

I don't like pepper on my food.  Never have, never will.

During the last days of my second marriage - when we were speaking at all - I repeatedly asked my husband not to put pepper on my steak.  He repeatedly ignored me.

It might've been because he thought I should like pepper on my steak.

It might've been because he thought I would come to like pepper on my steak.

The truth was, that he liked pepper on his steak in much the same way as he liked always knowing better than anyone else and having a better way of doing just about everything.   He didn't care in the slightest about my likes or dislikes but he did enjoy making decisions for me.  Until the night when I heaved an entire prime rib, plate and all - ruined and blackened with pepper - in his general direction and snarled that the dogs could have it.  I'd reached my limit of being dismissed and ignored and bullied and while it was a waste of a fine prime rib, at least it got his attention, albeit briefly. 

Until recently, I thought I was done with this kind of mindset but I hadn't reckoned on ol' Ace's arrival at the workplace.  Now it seems I have to fight the same battle all over again although of course this time it isn't about pepper or steak but rather about paperwork and forms, policies and the way things work.  It's about sign in sheets and clipboards and changing procedures out of arrogance.  And it's about manners, about calling someone 20 or 30 years older by their first name without being invited to.  It's about unsolicited change based on arrogance and despite the fact that it compromises the process.

I watched him take 40 patient encounter forms off their respective clipboards and lay them in a sloppy pile on his desk where he then re-attached each and every one when the patients actually arrived.  He felt no need to explain this curious and slightly roundabout method of getting from point A to point B.

I watched him dump all our sign in sheets into a trash barrel.  Presumably, he has a better design in mind but he didn't mention or produce it.

I listened to him call an eighty-one year old nun he'd never met before by her first name.

And I was the one who had to explain to a patient who'd been told to come right in (and did) why there was no one in the office and the door was locked because ol' Ace - so eager to be seen as a go-getter and better than the rest of us put together - hadn't bothered to ask which office he would be coming to and the patient arrived at the one some 70 miles away.  So sorry.

After this miserable day finally ends, I come home and try desperately to let go of my anger.  Condescending,
egotistical, controlling, I think.  Secretive to the point of paranoia, I think.  A bully with women and a coward with men, I think.  A blatant and shameless liar, I think.  He moves and talks as if in an LSD kind of daze and responds to questions with a vacant, slack jawed stare that makes me think of people who climb clock towers with rifles.  And yet I have to find a way to work with him or call it a day 'cause I can't shoot him.

But I might could hire someone.

Art on Fire

On a warm March afternoon, a handful of artists gathered on a hillside in a city park, built a fire and began burning their art.  The concept was a metaphor - clean house, make room for the new, purge and move on - but the flames were real enough.  There was a good deal of cheering and chanting encouragement as canvases were smashed and torn and laid in the fire.  The smoke, probably toxic as someone observed, swirled and floated on the light breeze, the ashes accumulated quickly, the heat spread like sadness.  I remembered I'd read that the event had been inspired by the passing of a California painter and the recent deaths of three local artists, all of whom had left behind a body of work but no instructions for its disposal. 

We are not what we used to be, a painter friend of mine pronounced solemnly, We let go of the past.  We do not leave our work to be a burden to our friends or family.

Each piece had a history and a story and each artist recalled it clearly, when it had been done, what the inspiration for it had been, where it had been exhibited and for how long and what the reactions to it had been.  They recited the details quietly.  As each piece went into the fire, I realized I was torn between admiration for their actions and a fuzzy sense of sorrow.  I am usually merciless with material possessions and feel no sentimentality at all about tossing them out with the dust they've gathered but no part of me goes with them.  This was somehow different, a little right and a little wrong.   I thought about the photographs I've taken over the years and knew I would never be brave enough to see them destroyed.  I've lost track of some and still sometimes grieve, wishing I'd been more careful, more discriminating about who they went to.  The negatives are long gone, lost in the shuffle of living, divorcing, moving from one state to another.  They may mean nothing to anyone but me but it makes me sad that they can't be re-created.

It takes a special kind of courage to create art.

It takes a special kind of of courage to let it go and watch it burn.

Hands Off

Most of us trip and stumble through life, never knowing when the ground will gave way and leave us suspended in mid air.  The best we can hope for is to learn from our mistakes, improve our judgement and values, be more careful, and do as little harm as possible.  All the rest is serendipity, happenstance, luck of the draw, if you will - all other words for God, some would say - nature doing her thing, my atheist friends would counter, random, meaningless and as futile and escape-proof as a perfect circle.

I see pain in a friend's eyes but she will not be drawn out and because I love her and this is not something she wants to talk about - she says so clearly but with some effort - I respect her decision and don't press.  And though her worry and sadness lodge in my throat like a rough edged stone, I can't think what to say to her.  I don't understand what it is to be a traditional and loving parent, to have children that will always be a part of you, to willingly want to make their pain your own.  For better or worse, I just don't come from that kind of family.

It's hard to watch a friend hurt and stay hands off but sometimes it's exactly what you need to do.

Cross Talk & Brandywine

Ruthie and I, playing jacks in one end of the sunporch where the linoleum was slick and easy on the knuckles and we weren't in the way, listened closely to the conversation from the other end where my grandmother and her cronies were playing bridge and hotly contesting the most recent bid.

Six spades! Nana had cried in alarm, Damn, Vi, have you been sippin' from the cider barrel again?

We can make it, Alice, Aunt Vi protested but weakly, I've been practicin'!

Aunt Pearl laughed softly at this and Nana snapped off her glasses and gave her a glare.

No cross talk,  Miss Clara admonished them mildly, neatly laying down her hand and reaching for the pitcher of iced coffee, Let's remember, we're all ladies here.  She poured, drank, wrinkled her nose.  

Alice, haven't you got.....

You know where it is, Nana said absently then groaned when Aunt Pearl easily took the first four tricks.  Clara adjusted one errant row of playing cards, earning a distracted slap on the wrist from my grandmother, then briefly left and returned with a slim, half full bottle of Canadian Gold.  She delicately added a capful to her coffee, re-took her seat and leaned back with a contented sigh. 

Traffic was light on The Point that afternoon but each passing car got its full share of attention.  All four ladies turned at the sound of an engine - identifying the vehicle and often adding an editorial comment - then returned to the game.

There goes Lenny Smallwood, Miss Clara remarked as a dusty old pickup chugged its way past, Man doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground but he sure can grow sweet corn.

Heard tell that Lily's expectin' again, Aunt Pearl mused, You'd think that field would be barren by now.

I heard tell it mightn't be Lenny's, Aunt Vi said in a low voice, That's why he's drinkin' again.  

Speakin' of which, she added with a blush that went all the way from her throat to hairline, Gloria Grace is home again.  They say she give it up.

That'd be three, my grandmother said with a bitter smile, You'd think she learn a thing or two.

Walter says he's gon' tie her ankles together if she can't keep her legs closed, Pearl remarked, Just like calf ropin'.

Don't be vulgar, Clara said, That's insultin' the calves.  All four women howled with laughter.

There was a screech of brakes and a rusted, two tone Chevy came round the corner.  For a fraction of a second it was on two wheels - paralyzingly close to the battered guard rail - then it bounced back and straightened out, speeding past in a storm of dust and sprayed gravel.

Those Sullivan boys, Aunt Pearl sighed, Ain't one of 'em don't drive like a bat outta hell.

Gon' miss that turn one of these days, Clara agreed, They'll be scrapin' him off the rocks for days.

Ayuh, Nana said, ain't got the sense God gave a gull.

Aunt Pearl gave a sudden victory whoop and threw down a final card with a flourish that made my grandmother wince.  Thirteen tricks were neatly stacked in front of her.

Grand slam, Alice! she shouted in triumph, Pass that damn brandy!

Aunt Vi cringed in her seat.

So much for your practicin', Viola, Nana snapped, I declare you ought to stick to Parcheesi or Uncle Wiggily!

Clara patted Vi's arm gently and tsk'd in disapproval at my grandmother.  You'll do better next time, dear, she said, It's only a game.  Here, buck up and have some brandy.

Ferry's in, Vi muttered distractedly as a sudden flurry of traffic appeared on the road.  An oil tanker was first off, rumbling past with it's bright red ESSO sign shimmering in the afternoon light.  It was followed by a pick up truck, a renovated station wagon with wooden sides - trailing feathers - a gleaming green Volvo with New York plates, and lastly a low slung and new-ish black Ford with the familiar insignia of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on the side.

Mounties! the ladies exclaimed almost in unison, the bridge game immediately forgotten as all four gathered at the windows like a gaggle of chattering birds.  They watched anxiously as the cruiser went slowly by and rather than take the curve and head up island, continued onto The Old Road toward the cove.  At the same time the telephone rang - as telephones would be ringing all over the village - Elsie's old switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree whenever the law arrived.  It was, Sparrow liked to say, the maritime equivalent of Paul Revere's ride, a veritable network of islanders banding together to warn the bootleggers and the unlicensed drivers of a possible intrusion.  Stills would be shutting down all over the island and the young boys in their boosted up, makeshift hot rods would be pulling into the nearest driveways.   Nothing bound the village so much as a little illegality.

Alright, girls, Nana announced, Elsie says it's just a routine visit.  Where were we?

We were cleanin' your clock, Alice, Aunt Pearl crowed, I don't wonder that you've forgotten!

Pearl, my grandmother said testily, just deal the damn cards.  Daylight's burnin'.

And it was.  The sky over Brier Island was deepening and beginning to turn pastel as we watched the ferry making its return trip.  The bridge game continued until supper was on the stove and the brandy bottle was dry.

Know Your Enemy

Until he lied and threw me to the wolves to cover his own ass, I'd never really thought of him as an enemy. Eccentric and a little weird, yes.  Sometimes bizarre, yes.  Arrogant, temperamental, hot headed and about some things not too bright, yes.  A bully and a two faced coward who turned hostile and mocking when he didn't get his way, yes.  Always prepared to evade responsibility, yes.  A clown but not an enemy.

In retrospect, I should've seen it coming and been better prepared but the lie was big, bold, convincingly told and effective.  It was, I realized too late, a well planned and perfectly executed set up.  The enemy - a far slicker bastard than I'd ever imagined - was elevated to hero and I cursed my own stupidity for my part in it. So be it, I told myself, at least now I know what I'm dealing with and I can make sure it doesn't happen again. 

I've met my quota of forgive and forget. 

Noise With Dirt On It

After six hours of punk rock and metal, I'm so far outside my comfort zone that I doubt ground seeking radar and a trail of breadcrumbs could bring me home.  I'm still not sure of the point of the music, aside from the volume which is deafening and the lyrics which are raunchy, but what strikes me the hardest is the age and demeanor of the young musicians and their fans.  They slouch around between sets, chain smoking unfiltered cigarettes, guzzling Red Bull and raving about the music - every other word is a familiar obscenity and it soon becomes faded and harmless - just another overworked old adjective, as if there were no others in the English language.  On the dance floor, they scream and wail and chant and body slam into each other like freight trains.  At some point, it strikes me that these are just children - acned, extravagantly tattooed and pierced, ragged and rebellious - but still just children.  Oh, my God, I think with sudden and despair laden shock, I'm turning into my mother!  The realization hits me like a slap in the face and clutching my camera like a shield, I scramble outside to the parking lot to breathe and come to my senses.  Think of the passion and energy you're seeing, I remind myself harshly, You were eighteen once too!

It almost works until I recall being eighteen - Nehru jackets, love beads, a hint of weed, a forgotten war - and protest songs by the likes of Phil Ochs and Arlo Guthrie and Tom Paxton.  We were wating for the revolution and we not only sang the songs, some of us tried to live them.  I can't reconcile the protest music I knew and loved (still do) with the angry, illogical, hysterically loud cacophony shattering my eardrums.  That was satire and activism - this is the definition I read recently of a boy - noise with dirt on it.

But, I tell myself, the world is an offering and I'm here because I don't want to be stuck in a musical box and I surely don't want to see my mother's face when I look in the mirror.

Banging and body slamming is not my kind of music and while I'd prefer to simply shut it out, there's nothing worse than a locked up mind.  These are children - smoking, cussing, inked and pierced children - looking for their places, for self expression, for a sound that speaks to them.  When I was their age, I'm pretty sure I was doing the very same thing.

Tolerance is not really a lived virtue; it's more of a cerebral ascent ~ Krista Tippett

Oh, my wounded ears.  I hope so.



  

Not in My Neighborhood

The gunfire is uncomfortably close.

It's a Sunday night and the shots ring out with an eerie and unfamiliar clarity, followed by an unpleasant screech of brakes and the sound of a gunning engine.  Firecrackers, I think to myself, but instinctively I know better although I don't know how I know.  I haven't heard gunfire since I was a child and don't think I've ever heard pistol shots except once a very long time ago, but still I know.  In a matter of minutes, less time than it takes to dial 911 almost, the neighborhood is filled with sirens, flashing lights and fear.  Uncharacteristically, the dogs are indifferent to the commotion, they barely raise their heads even when a police car slowly cruises by, its searchlight carefully trained on the front of each house.  It turns out to be a drive by shooting in the next block, a mere two houses and two yards away, and while there's some property damage, no one is injured and the shooters make a clean getaway.   The neighborhood will likely not recover quite so quickly and there are bound to be aftershocks in the neat little rows of houses so close to my own. I've never felt unsafe before, I realize, and sleep is longer than usual in coming this night.  Gunfire, I discover, will do that to you.

The thought that it might have been targeted is unnerving but the thought that it might have been random is even worse.

The following morning's social media postings report that it was an isolated incident, possibly a case of mistaken identity.  The police investigation is on going, the assailants will surely be apprehended, we are encouraged to not overreact.  It makes for good press, I suppose, but I find no reassurance in the statements.
The idea that a carful of gun-toting thugs would invade and shoot up a quiet little street that decorates and puts up Christmas trees on the sidewalks each holiday season unsettles me.  

If they'd shot at my house, the little nurse tells me with a smile I don't quite like, they'd never have gotten out alive.

Somehow not the answer I was hoping for.

A Clint Eastwood Moment

He is tawny - a lusciously cream colored coat with rich brown points on his face and tail and Paul Newman blue eyes - he's also enormous for a Siamese and he lays into the equally large orange tabby like a threshing machine.  They are wrapped up together on the front lawn - shrieking and wailing like the last two survivors of the end of the world - they snarl and tumble and roll around, not even noticing me as I come down the front steps.  I shout at them to break it up but it's all flailing claws and gnashing teeth and obscenities and neither pays me any attention.  Reluctantly I reach for the water hose, give the faucet an extended twist, and advance upon them with steely determination.  

Fair warning!  I shout but they are too intertwined to hear.  Dirt and fur are flying and I can't tell where one ends and the other begins.  I step even closer, press my thumb into the end of the hose and douse them both with an icy spray of water.  The tabby breaks free and makes a mad dash through the crepe myrtle, slashing through the latticework and diving under the house.  The Siamese gives a final, defiant yowl, turns on me with his back arched and hisses nastily.  I, however, am in the midst of a Clint Eastwood moment.  I wave the hose like a deadly weapon and meet his eyes without the first flinch.

Are you feelin' lucky, punk?  I ask and take a step toward him.  Apparently he's not - he gives a last growl and then turns tail - running through the scrubs and into the yard next door but still somehow maintaining his dignity.  Again, I'm struck by his size, which is considerably larger than our average neighborhood cat, and his gracefulness which is tiger-like.   I've never seen him before but I have a suspicion that he's only just begun.

There's a new sheriff in town, I tell the orange tabby who has taken a tentative step out from under the house and is watchfully sitting among the branches of the crepe myrtle, You'd better be watching your back.  He blinks but says nothing, casually lifting one paw to groom his whiskers and pointedly not looking to his left where some distance away the Siamese is sitting like a statue.

I love cats.  They're all about attitude and spirit and independence, things I admire greatly, but sometimes a cold shower is the only reasonable solution.





  

  

Take A Number

We passed through Centreville on a sunny late spring morning with the tide at its highest point and the fields of wildflowers in full bloom.  Gulls soared overhead, shrieking a welcome and the ocean rippled with white capped waves.  In the tiny harbor, the fishing boats were at rest, rocking silently with the motion of the ocean and secure in their moorings.  Like so many villages, it was picture postcard perfect.

Gus's Good Eats sat at the end of the breakwater - a landmark of sorts - dilapidated and in sore need of paint and carpentry but still churning out breakfast, lunch and dinner every day of the week save Sunday, even in the harshest of winter storms.  The poor old building sagged in places, the roof leaked, and nobody but Gus could manage the ancient wood stove but business thrived, especially in summer.  Tourists lined up for cardboard containers of lobster salad, scallops swimming in real butter, homemade chowders, sweet corn grilled in its husks and still warm bread.  There was no menu except for breakfast when you could have the No 1 (bacon and eggs) or the No 2 (ham and eggs), both served with or without toast.  Gus's only rule was that you had to take a number from the rusty old check machine which sat prominently under a hand lettered sign that read TAKE A NUMBER.  Sitting at one of the worn out old picnic tables, Nana and I watched as a family of tourists approached the counter, waited patiently for several minutes - they could clearly see Gus through the smeary glass as he could them - and then commenced to knock on the window, softly at first then a little more loudly.  Then a little impatiently.

Gus looked up, shrugged, put down the cast iron skillet and walked deliberately to the counter, slid open the glass window.

Take a number, he advised them and walked back to the stove.

The tourists looked around, nodded to Nana and me, looked around again.  The wife frowned, gave her confused looking husband an encouragingly sharp jab in the ribs.

We're the only ones here! the husband protested against the glass but not before giving his wife a narrow eyed glare, We'd like a menu!

A scowling Gus put down the skillet a second time, wiped his hands on his grease stained apron, and walked slowly back to the counter.  My grandmother began to snicker, trying unsuccessfully to disguise it by holding her paper napkin over her mouth and manufacturing a cough.  Gus slid open the window, leaned out on his elbows, twisted his face into something like a grin.

Ain't no menu, he snapped, And ain't no service less'n you take a number.  The glass window slammed shut, leaving the tourists looking a little dazed.

But we're the only ones here.....the husband repeated helplessly.

The wife, a substantial woman in a loud sundress and a fiery looking sunburn, roughly elbowed her thin and slightly frail looking husband aside and adjusted her matching tote over her shoulder with a jerk.  She planted her sneakered feet and with one tightly fisted hand, rapped so sharply on the window that the glass rattled and a small shower of paint flecks mixed with dust randomly flew about.  

And there, my grandmother muttered with a profound sigh, goes domestic tranquility.

What followed was, as Nana liked to emphasize in the frequent re-telling, an impressive display of speed, agility, and elegance.  Gus closed the distance between the back of the kitchen and the front door in two seconds flat, pausing only to exchange his apron for a double barreled shotgun, and roaring out into the open like a wounded bear.  The startled tourists flew in every direction, reminding me of a flock of geese out of formation and squawking protests.  The tourist wife and husband collided and she lost her grip on her garish tote - it slid off her ample shoulder and fell to the ground - makeup, a wire hairbrush, a family sized plastic bottle of aspirin, a handful of coins and several crumpled Nova Scotia maps spilled everywhere.  Gus took aim and with one ear splitting blast blew the forlorn bag and its entire contents to smithereens.  It was hard to tell whether it was the tourist wife - diving for cover and considerably less than dignified - or the gulls that shrieked the loudest. 

I ain't gonna tell ya again, Gus said calmly as he waved away dirt and dust and little pieces of paper floating in the smoky air, Ya hafta take a number.



  

All Things Being Relative

You don't appreciate what you have til it's gone.

For the two days that the kitten is at the vet's to be spayed, the house is eerily quiet and composed.  The sense of watchfulness that we have all become accustomed to is missing and the silence is unnerving.   It's peaceful and calm but it's not right, not exactly in balance with that one small element of chaos absent.  I leave early to pick her up, anxious to have her back home, and the moment I free her from the carrier and her little feet hit the floor, mayhem breaks out.  As expected, the adult cats spit and snarl and swat at her but the dogs go wild, landing on her in an ecstasy of welcome and excitement.  Hello, chaos, welcome home.  Since she's only been gone 48 hours, domestic relations are re-established shortly after supper and by the time everyone gathers on the bed, there's relative harmony.  I stretch out among this collection of cast offs, trying to find enough room to be comfortable without causing any undue disturbance.  Cats curl up behind my knees and perch on my hip, dogs lay claim to all the pillows.  The kitten is the last to arrive - she launches her small self with a distinct little mew - landing with a soft thud directly on top of the little dachshund.  He stretches, yawns, and shifts his position to make a place for her and both are asleep in a matter of minutes, her head resting on his paws and his on my shoulder.  

The thought comes to me that all things being relative, love and chaos are somehow linked, that on some level, you can't have one without the other.

There's more than a little madness in sharing life with three dogs and five cats.  I think in terms of animal care - how long can I leave them alone, is there enough dry food left, did I lock the back door - and of course the ever popular, oh, Good Lord, another vet bill.  And I confess, there are mornings when I envy those friends who are not at the mercy of such thoughts.  They have clean houses and nice things and get to come and go at will.  They shop for actual groceries at the grocery store.  I doubt they make weekly resolutions about cat hair on the curtains and dog art on the windows.  It's unlikely they replace vacuum cleaners every few months (knock on wood) or worry overly much about carpet stains, shredded furniture, or broken venetian blinds. They know what it's like to sleep in on a Saturday and come home at the end of the day to a mayhem-free house.
I, on the other hand, make it a point to dust and scrub and polish without my glasses.  If I don't see the dust bunnies, they can't call my name.

Love and chaos.  That's relativity.

Pass the Excedrin

Kee-rist!  my grandmother liked to say when pushed past her patience and trying hard not to throw something.

I know the feeling.

For reasons I can't fathom, once your check numbers make into the 5 digit range, my bank drops the 1st digit on the bottom part of the check.  This means that the check number on the bottom doesn't exactly match the number in the upper right corner - not rocket science to decipher - but more than adequate to stump the fine folks at Rite Aid and their check verification service.  

It's not within their parameters, the cashier tells me with an indifferent shrug, We can't take it.

I protest and ask for a manager - pointing out that every other pharmacy in this city, every grocery store and every department store, even the post office - all take my checks with barely a second look.  The manager, a squinty eyed, chubby little gnome in bifocals and a stained polo shirt, listens to his cashier and hands me back my check and ID with a muttered and bored, Sorry.  In return, I gingerly hand him back the little Rite Aid plastic bag with my medication in it - he takes it uncertainly, reminding me of the dog walkers I see carrying their little plastic bags of poop and this gives me a minor but very definite thrill of satisfaction - and I walk out.  

The second night, I'm feeling optimistic so I try Walgreen's.  All goes well until the unsmiling and defensive cashier begins to ring up the sale, at which point the computer has some sort of technological seizure and it's suddenly All Stop.  With no back up plan for this kind of glitch, it takes just under 25 minutes for them to sort it out and I wind up paying three times Rite Aid's price.  There is no apology offered for the delay.

Thank you, I tell the sullen little girl behind the counter, with as much insincerity as I can summon, I won't be having you fill this again.  I consider making a formal complaint to the manager but decide I've filled my quota of interactions with idiots for the day and wasted enough time.

Service.  I don't expect it anymore but I'd settle for someone who could spell it.

Kee-rist.