After getting caught in a deluge just outside the reach of scaffolding, I had a chance to rethink my attitude towards rain.
I don’t want to undermine the effects of weather events that ruin communities, take lives, and devastate an entire region like Puerto Rico or Louisiana.
It’s just that on many occasions we let an ordinary rain ruin our mood. We let it drive us indoors when we’d rather be out.
It’s true that so often on those sultry days, it does nothing to relieve the heat.
Today it cooled the temperatures so they matched the feel of the steely skies.
What a wonderful invention! It helps move things up hill and down dale while lightening the load.
Wheels give the bicycle impetus. Wheels make the bus go forward as they “go round and round.” Wheels power lots of helpful items both big and small in our lives.
As I recall, we credit the cavemen with inventing this and finding fire. Ah, just bring me a wheelbarrow full of chestnuts to roast.
Unload a truck full of furniture with the aid of the smallest board, as long as it has wheels.
Amazon delivery? Use a jerryrigged cart. Wheels, wheels and more wheels. The semi and the railroad train use wheels to get their locomotion going.
Best wheelie laundry cart we’ve gotten.
For me, laundry is a load with a challenge. A challenge that could be remedied with wheels. I admit to seriously envying the neighbor with a rolling hamper I met in our laundry room.
A search yielded a solution to both my envy and my laundry-carrying. My starter hamper was a plastic basket with wheels. It was tall but not very wide making it perfect for a NY bathroom.
Since plastic can be so flimsy, I went back to the old search engine. This time I landed on the item my neighbor had been wheeling into the laundry room.
This one was round and could be collapsed when not in use for storage. (Just writing that had me wondering.When would a hamper be put in storage?) It was also a bit tippy when full but for about 2 years it served valiantly.
Until its structural advantages started to become structural faults, I saw no reason for a change. Now that the flexible wire that held it up began peaking out the top, I did an old-fashioned look-in-a-store for something new and perhaps better.
My local Rainbow Ace had these rolling hampers in three sizes. Definitely better.
Apartment dwelling is hard to get used to, even with the centuries we’ve had to adjust. And who’s to say it wouldn’t be just as loud in your suburban enclave.
Our friend, Dr. Bronzaft, answers your concerns about noise. In this podcast, she addresses the thorny issue of noisy neighbors.
In order to hang onto that summertime feeling, I had to find a fruit to replace the peach that would carry us into the fall. Kiwi, an Australian with a fuzzy skin and slightly sharp tang, fits the bill. The yellow version even has that peachy hue.
It defies logic (but probably not genetics) that a kiwi with yellow fruit (and skin) is sweeter than the old standard green variety.
The texture requires you to use a spoon rather than a bite.
This type of kiwi is also smoother skinned, and the ones I’ve found are branded Zespri.
These seem to be bred for a milder, less acidic flavor. The ones I sampled are also juicier. Expect to get your fingers sticky.
The tried and the trite can keep us just as entertained as watching a ping-pong ball across the net does.
Here’s what I bring to the table.
So, I feel like I’m between a rock and a hard place.
Maybe I opened a can of worms when I let some secrets slip to that loose cannon friend of yours.
The more the merrier I say, bring it on, this challenge is the perfect storm.
It’s an uphill battle but I know that like me you’re as tough as nails so for you this will be a piece of cake. The question is will I weather the storm?
Let’s think outside the box here for a minute. If I play my cards right I’ll be right as rain.
Maybe I should read between the lines because I’ve learned you can’t judge a book by its cover.
Well, I guess better safe than sorry.
You have been as quiet as a church mouse. Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? Or has the cat got your tongue?
I know you’re going to warn me that what goes around comes around. That’s easy for you to say.
Whoever said the grass is always greener on the other side never had to mend fences. If I didn’t act in haste, I would be dead as a doornail.
Chances are I’d be serving up a tray of low-hanging fruit. You’d be eating the plenty of fish in the sea.
My insistence on referring to these beds as “fresh flowers” is just an eccentricity.
Seeing floral bouquets plucked or planted brightens the day.
My immediate neighbors have a vast empire of flowers the staff tend. They also have urns filled with color in their lobby.
Some lobbies give off an aura that is both exotic and elegant.
If you had to guess, what might you expect my morning essential to be.
My guess would be coffee, even as I signal virtue by a cutback in quantity. I was a 3 cappuccini a day gal at one point and that dubious fact lingers as if the real virtue is in excess.
Actually, my morning necessity has become the brief walk to pick up our morning necessaries.
I grab a smoothie and a couple of madeleines. I visit the local Subway restaurant to pick up a couple of salads. Sometimes there’s another stop to be made, perhaps for banana or peach.
It’s during that walk that I pass the lush planting in our neighbor-building’s frontyard.
It’s a bit unfair that I never cited my smoothie joint for its very fine coffee.
Sometimes you just don’t think of your relationship that way. Truth is I get a coffee with my tofu scramble breakfast special. Truth is I really enjoy it.
It’s going to be 50-50 for me sitting at one of the Green Bean Cafe’s outdoor tables or dragging the breakfast home.
Tofu makes a great egg alternative, when it subs in for the scrambled variety. I make a couple of meals from the one breakfast.
The home fries wait their turn for a dinner in which I add cocktail tomatoes to the pan while reheating. The 7 grain toast is a next day breakfast with or without hummus, and sometimes as a mini grilled cheese.
BTW, as a rule what’s described above subs in for home cooking in my kitchen.
The Green Bean serves fresh coffee, brewing up a clean pot every 30 minutes. For their iced coffee, they do as I do which is to keep a carafe in the fridge so it’s nice and cold before ice. The coffee, which is proudly organic, is mythically robust yet never bitter.
While there, ask for a Heartfelt Smoothie or a Jolty Green Giant (the “t” is an apt typo.)
How does a nice cold scoop of your favorite flavor make you feel?
Word is that ice cream is a natural mood enhancer. It’s supposed to make you feel just as good as it likely does.
Most people, my friend AJ told me, prefer vanilla. When we discussed this we felt it was a shame that so many of our fellow ‘screamers did not dip into the deep diversity of the freezer.
Don’t get me wrong, vanilla is a fine taste. It lacks some of the umph you might find in the more colorful choices. Pistachio is a robust green and raspberry a feisty purple while peach is a full-throated coral.
This pretty array also sparks your palette with excitement and savor. I invite you to take your senses on an adventure.
All The Best 