The Witching Hour...

 

No matter what time I go to bed, I most often wake up at 3:00 AM  - almost always on the dot – even the morning after we all “spring ahead” or “fall back”.  It’s annoying and more.  Is it because of the witching hour of lore?  I have no idea, and I don’t really spend too much time these days thinking about witching hours. The thing is … it is not actually the waking up part that is so bothersome – it is the dreams that come after I fall back asleep -- if I do.  Even while I am having them, I know I am dreaming and think about how stupid they are.  I know that I try to wake myself up on purpose sometimes just to get away from them.  Then again, I sense, at other times, that I am trying to bring them to a satisfactory ending. You know – like those dreams when you are looking for something like your underwear or trying to get back home and the hallways are an endless maze.  You are somehow compelled to find the lost object or get back home safely. Who knows why?

Case in point about these predawn dreams ….  This week I had a dream where people of varying ages – all strangers (one of them had a mustache that needed to be trimmed) – were in my face shouting at me about vitamin supplements.  I was trying to shout back at them to “Stop shouting in my face”, but I couldn’t make any sound.  It was frustrating and I was angry. My throat was tight and strained. Seriously.  Picture that. Been there?

From that I went to the unexpected and joyful discovery of a large hoard of regular mouth canning jar lids.  Not only were they the size I have been looking for during the past two years, but they were Ball and Kerr – my personal faves.  So – I went from screaming angry to most happy all within what was probably a few minutes of stolen sleep in the wee hours of the morning.

Oh – and get this.  It has been several years now, but... I once had a recurring dream that I was driving along a country road and when I blinked, my eyes won’t open and I was driving along blind – just hoping for the best.  It was awful.  As I mentioned -- it was a recurring dream...a recurring awfulness.  I contemplated just staying awake forever, and ... I avoided road trips for a while. Truth. This nightmare disappeared immediately after I told someone about it.  The same thing happened when I was a kid and had a recurring dream of tripping and falling down my neighbor’s basement steps. The sharing saved me.  That’s what I do now that I know the secret.  If I have a particularly scary recurring dream, I share.  Sharing makes them disappear. I have no idea why.  I consider it a gift. Then again… hope I am not passing them along. Sometimes I share dreams before they have a chance to reoccur ... just in case.

Anyway -- no wonder I am sometimes tired when I wake up in the morning.  Dreams are a strange phenomena for sure and can be exhausting.  Just another part of the human condition – I guess. It might be interesting to delve a bit into dream interpretation.  Then again  -- maybe just best to leave it alone. Ah -- the witching hour. I still wonder if that has anything to do with this whole issue?  I just don't wonder about it a lot. There are enough unexplained/unexplainable things sometimes.

Hamster Wheel ...

 

I was, for a moment or two, feeling compelled to write about that old WWII poster - the one warning that “Loose Lips Sink Ships” or about how scary it is when a president’s words are “walked back” by his staff in order to smooth things over.  Who are these people who tell us what our president really meant, but didn’t actually say?  I was also going to write that I am not sure which is worse to listen to – a whispering or a shouting president. But – I am trying so hard to keep it light.  Not always easy these days. I am trying to switch the channel here. Hope you will stay with me.

I confess. Sometimes I worry. Sometimes I fret. No matter what I tell myself about the senselessness of this, I am who I am.  It’s like the whole patience “thing”.  I have been trying for as long as I can remember to try to become a more patient person.  Not making much progress there either.  The thing is – this issue is not present all the time.  It comes and goes depending on the circumstances.  Other people tell me that it is a common ailment. Really?  Maybe people just tend to hide it. Maybe it is not something that they talk about readily.

It is like when you are sleeping away from home and you try to adjust to the night noises of a strange place.  Different room. Different bed. Different sounds.  Was that something moving in the wall behind your head? Was that some snarling clawing animal scratching at the window screen or just a tree branch brushing up against it in the wind? Been there?

Years ago, things were worse actually – My kids were small. Life was somehow more complicated.  As my mom used to say – “we all have our own special bag of rocks.  And... if you look around and see how fortunate you really are deep down, you probably do not want to trade your bag of rocks for someone else’s.  She was a smart woman.  I learned a lot from her now that I think back on everything we had together while on our journey together.  Anyway – years ago I used to tell myself that when I had time, I would take a break.  I earned it. I deserved it.  You know – a time to shut down if only for a little while.  I never found that time back in those days.

The thing is – I have that time now.  I am trying to give myself some of this time -- if only a little bit now and then.  When I succeed, it is wonderful.  I call it Slugsville and I can pretty much go there whenever I want -- within reason of course. (I think I have mentioned Slugsville before....) Maybe that freedom is part of what retirement is.  (Although is anyone ever truly retired?) But… one cannot stay in Slugsville forever and I, personally would not want to. Maybe it is more a matter of focus.  Shut out some of the world sometimes, but connect with what is most important. Personally -- I like spending as much time as possible with my family and interacting with friends and other people in general.  A world within a world.

So – I am thinking that sometimes it is okay to worry.  Sometimes it is okay to fret.  It is okay to keep on working on the patience “thing”. Maybe those things are just part of the human condition.  Maybe trying matters. Maybe asking questions is important as well.  

Gobbledygook, flibbertigibbet ... and more....

 

Well... what can I say?  I was going to write this week's blog about "the significance of the passage of time" but it seems that idea has been a bit overused this week.  So ... instead ... the topic is gobbledygook and flibbertigibbet … two words that are sort of fun to say… but not fun to listen to or to be trapped with in the same room.

First is Gobbledygook.  We are all too familiar with this commonplace "misuse" of language.  It brings to mind any of a number of politicians or the occasional press secretary who have become masters of saying nothing and of using big words in strings in an attempt to flummox regular people. They think they are smarter than we are. They think we are nincompoops.  They underestimate us for sure. Obviously.  You can tell it is gobbledygook if, when you listen to them, the only thing you can think of is: “Wait. What?”  It’s not you; trust me on that. We are so on to them. Are we not?

Then there is flibbertigibbet. Now a flibbertigibbet is, as you know, a flighty, silly person with the added connotation of being someone who, in addition to that silly stuff, has a leaning toward being a blabbermouth, busybody, chatterbox, meddler, newsmonger, tattle tell, etc.  (All nice descriptive words as well.) You get the idea.

Now that I think of it … a flibbertigibbet who has tendencies toward gobbledygook is definitely someone to be avoided.  Perhaps that is why I have been on a “news brownout" now for a while. Just sayin’.

Anyway ...  I would love to meet the person who first used the words gobbledygook and flibbertigibbet.  He/she ranks right up there with the wordsmiths who came up with balderdash, codswallop and nincompoop. Some might say that these five words sort of run together- belong to the same club/gang. Yet, I bet all five could be used in a meaningful sentence of just six, or maybe seven words. Words are fascinating and sometimes fun for sure.

I was thinking about my favorite word of the moment just last Sunday while watching one of those old (as in rerun) Inside the Actors’ Studio interviews – this one with Robin Williams.  I forget what he said his favorite word was, but my favorite word at this moment is thwack.  Don’t know why – it is just fun to say.  I keep waiting for the appropriate situation in which it might fit... a situation that does not involve tennis balls. I feel the same way about the French word for umbrella – parapluie – like I said – just fun to say. Plus it is one of the few French words that I remember. Anyway...

I would love to know what your favorite words are.  Bet they run the gamut. Feel free to share – with or without explanation. I bet your faves are flabbergasting. Okay -- enough now.... 

Phil Silvers and spelling ...

 

Okay… so… this morning I was spending some time on my usual morning treat -- an acrostic puzzle -- and the first prompt was “Comic creation of Phil Silvers: 2 wds.”.  Immediately the words Sgt. Bilko crashed to the forefront of my mind.  Now why I can remember that and not how to spell the “official” color of my Jeep Wrangler (Mojito) is beyond me. And that is just one thing of many that I cannot remember.

Now the thing is - and I often bring this up when talking to other Boomers when it seems applicable…  I read a long article about this forgetfulness issue.  I reassure you (and me) that this phenomenon has nothing to do with neurological damage or disease, so don’t bother to look up things like Dementia and Alzheimer’s …  at least not right this minute.  The occurrence described in the first paragraph is called benign forgetfulness.  Have I written about this before?  I forget benignly.  Anyway – it is a normal thing and may be a teeny bit age related, but certainly nothing to be concerned about.  There is normal forgetfulness and not normal forgetfulness.

There are those who believe, myself included, that sometimes our brains are just simply on overload.  We live in a fast-changing world and there is a lot coming at us and that doesn’t just mean electronically.  If you doubt this – just picture yourself standing in your kitchen trying to get everything ready for dinner with a whole bunch of family or group of friends standing around taking, laughing and engaging with you while you are trying to time the potatoes so that they get done at the same time as the meat.  Then to complicate things even further – add in that you are using two ovens, a range, a microwave and an air-fryer that no one seems to know how to use except your grandkids – so you put them in charge of at least that much.  Oh – don’t forget there may also be a crock pot involved as well. It’s an exhausting juggling act to even think about, let alone do. It is hard to keep every single thing right at the tip of your tongue and sometimes impossible to sort out all the conversations going on at once. And… that is just one scenario. I am thinking that you could add to the list in fine fashion.  I mean – just think about making holidays special and all that entails.  I mean -- that preparation takes months. 

I don’t know about you, but I am thinking that rather than worrying about forgetting whether or not the door is locked, that we might be better off thinking about all the things we did remember to do.  I do so love a good list with everything checked off neatly. (I do remember that I have written about making lists before.) Now if I could remember where I put my favorite pencil… and my list making paper… I would be all set. Priorities....

A Break from the Bleak

 

“Spring is sprung, the grass is riz, I wonders where the birdies is… (Anon)

Well not sure if Spring is here or not seeing as we got about a foot of snow this past weekend, but I am hopeful.  There are other signs though.  I don’t wonder where the birdies are, for example.  They are all around me in large, loud clusters, and then there is the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Goose have arrived at my neighbor’s pond to rest before they take off for parts unknown. Actually, this is the earliest they have arrived in the past 5 years.  Early Spring?  Dare we hope? They spent a good part of last week there standing on the ice and then paddling around and repeatedly thrusting their heads into freezing water once the ice melted.  ???  They are lovely to watch for sure and they don’t seem to bother the koi that are just now coming closer to the surface as well.  I think there are about a dozen koi in that pond, and I have seen four so far. Soon a snapping turtle or two will find their way to my mulch to dig nests and lay their eggs.   I think it was the year before last we actually saw the baby snappers crawling out of the soil to make their way to water. (There are two spring ponds on my property - one of which flows into my neighbors’ pond – the one that Mr. and Mrs. Goose like so much. I think of it as their rent-free time share.  Anyway – good habitats all for snapping turtles.)

Now all of this is just fine, but this time of year also means the long battle of wills between me and one particularly ornery robin who tries – every single year – to build a nest on either the front of back porch.  No harm you say?  Well, no harm if you don’t mind bird poop all over your porch furniture.  Now I solved the front porch situation with a motion detector light.  Every time the bird flies in with a beak full of twigs, the light blasts on and --- ta da – off it goes.  The back porch is a whole different ball game. This bird, and yes, I think it is the same one every year, loves the ceiling fan on that porch.  I tell it every year: Mrs. Bird…  “You have almost several acres of land with loads of trees and shrubs to chose from, you do not have to build your nest on that fan”.  Last year I had to leave the fan on for three days for this bird to give up and move on.  The bird is almost as stubborn as I am.  It sits just off the porch on my patio table watching and waiting, poops on every patio chair and waits for an opportunity to move onto my porch to do real damage to the cushions and rugs there.  Not going to happen.  I can almost feel it plotting its campaign now as I write this.  I guarantee you – it will not win.

Now all of this may seem very insignificant in light of current events, but it is my life at the moment, and I am trying to give you a break from the bleak. That’s all.

Guess that is too much to ask...

 

So… today as I write it is March 8^th. I think about finding myself just into the first full week of March and in checking the stats for my blog, I discovered that Monday’s blog had readers not only in the United States, but also in Ireland, Sweden and Russia.  Now I have no idea of exactly who or where these people are, but someone in these far-off lands has viewed my blog. I don’t always have readers from across the globe, but it is fun when I do. I love that somehow they came across my words.  I wonder what they must think of the ramblings in From Pencil Box to Keyboard?  One thing I know for sure from the occasional comment, is that people from all over the world have the same kinds of feelings and concerns. One gentleman from Sweden wrote to me a couple of years ago to draw parallels between his family and mine – shared concerns about something I had written. Perhaps we could focus more on the similarities among differing cultures than we do on the differences. It would be a start of some sort. I know I have said that before, but... I actually think that a lot of the world has been doing that of late – at least for the last couple of weeks.  There is a feeling of a world united – at least some of it. It obviously is inspired by a common enemy, but at least it is a plus to be united in any way.

With that in mind… today I want to write about routine sorts of things... things that a lot of people do. The thing is – I am feeling sort of at loose ends these last days of winter. I, personally, am itching to get outside and am thankful that is an option.  I have inside chores pretty well caught up as far as chores are concerned and am looking for things to do that involve fresh air. It’s been a long winter. Anyway… back to routine things -- I woke up this morning and clicked on the TV, as I often do in the morning… you know… to see if the outside world is still there. Then as I padded to the kitchen (in my thick socks and fleece) to turn on the coffee maker, I glanced outside to see that -- once again -- snow covers the ground and… it is still snowing. I thought to myself that I hoped the furnace would kick on shortly to take off the morning chill. Ah life in snow country.  And then – drum roll – I remembered that today is a most special day.  Today one of my grandsons turns 15!  How did that happen so quickly?  I will be celebrating him in my mind all day. Aren’t grandkids remarkable?  I so love them.  We just celebrated my granddaughter’s birthday less than a month ago.  She is 11 now, and I don’t know how that could happen so quickly either.  I guess time does fly -- at least in looking back.

Speaking of looking back – this year is my 55^th High School reunion. Again… how did that happen so quickly? Now… some of you will wonder why this is a big deal, but around here, reunions are huge… and usually well attended.  It is sort of a big thing – a happening.  The Class of ’67 usually celebrates (every five years) for two days, sometimes even longer – people coming in from all over the place.  I am hoping that this year will be that way – it’s been a couple of rough years for everyone. I will miss those who are unable to attend. I am thinking, for me, that touching the past and reconnecting with friends may be a very good way to spend a weekend in June.  There is something very special about spending some time with those who have known you from childhood. You have some shared memories. You lived through shared experiences.  People know what you are talking about without background fill-ins. It’s like they know you and you know them at the very core... from the beginning.  It’s nice.  I am also thinking that people all over the world have shared memories of their childhood friends. It’s a bond. People are people. I just wish that the world were more settled and safer for everyone. Guess that is too much to ask at the moment.

Far from the madding crowd...

 

Oh, how thankful I am to have been born in America and that I now live in such a lovely rural piece of it in the top corner Northwest Pennsylvania.   I like the cold and snow of winter and the spring green that is so bright it almost hurts your eyes. I love the cool nights of summer and the multicolor leaves and crisp air of Autumn.  I don’t think I could live as happily somewhere that doesn’t have such a noticeable change of seasons.  It is also lovely and … peaceful here.

Actually, I think there is beauty in every single part of this country – even in the cities, and I don't tend to give cities credit for much these days. Anyway -- from shimmering desert to foggy mountain tops, through soil rich plains to swamps dripping with Spanish moss – there is something for everyone and… most importantly…  we are free.  Perhaps that freedom is the ultimate beauty.

Life in rural America, for me, is one relatively untouched by the outside world…. No traffic. Very little pollution. Living is somehow easier, I think. Rural America tends to be the forgotten and overlooked and sometimes that is okay. There is a lot to consider. Life in rural America, for me, is relatively simple in comparison to the more complex life of urban America. It is a life where the focus is mostly on family and on community.  People know each other by face if not by name.  People reach out with a helping hand to those they don’t know.  Generosity is alive… as is kindness… and the thing is – you can see it every day.  It is also a relatively safe place to be these days. That counts ... a lot.

It’s March and time to pretend that it is Spring here in snow country.  We know -- as we still have to put on our boots, coats, hats, gloves and scarves at times --  that it won’t be long now until we can open the windows to let in the fresh air and walk outside to feel the grass under our bare feet. Once in a while we have a hint of that even in March. The cycle moves on. Not everyone in the world is as fortunate.

Think I will stay here a bit longer ….  It’s nice – even if there are those who think it is in the middle of nowhere. They don't know what they are missing. I have been thinking a lot lately about my good fortune… about peace… about freedom.  I have decided that I understand why people cherish their freedom and why people stay to defend their homes ... if they are left to defend.

God Bless them all.

"Let there be peace on earth... 

  the peace that was meant to be...." 

a most wonderful escape...

 

In a world with way too many wonderful people still “addicted” to “Covid Theatre” and/or 24 hour “new channels” providing a birds eye view of the world situation, I think I should share with you, once again, a bit of the world of fiction. Fiction offers a break for those who are just plain sick and tired of living in such "historical" times. It is a stress reliever when those helpless feelings settle in and make themselves too comfortable. Breathe in deeply; Breathe out slowly.  Again.

Recently I mentioned books by Louise Penny that I read in the past year or so – the Three Pines series -- so good – entertaining and thought provoking for sure. Well …  Louise Penny introduced me to Alan Bradley recently. Not personally, of course, -- I think I read something about him in one of her newsletters or somewhere Penny related.  Anyway – Bradley’s series of Flavia De Luce is beyond wonderful.  The setting is England in the early 1950’s and makes me yearn for simpler times ... although … the major attraction is  11-year-old Flavia, the most complicated and fascinating character I have met in a while – lots of challenges.  Her adventures are an escape into a world of mystery as well as into the heart, dreams and unspoken moments of the poignant world of a young girl left to her own devices.  I don’t know how else to explain it without giving things away -- things that each reader should be allowed to discover on his/her own- for therein, at least for me, is the joy of reading. She also makes me laugh out loud... and I am particularly fond of the way she interacts with her trusty bicycle, Gladys.  Plus, now in the final book of the series, I find that I have improved my vocabulary (you know how I love words...) as well as my knowledge of English history. I want this reading adventure to last.  I am, therefore, reading this book as slowly as I am able.  Bet you have been there.

I find it fascinating that an adult male author can get so into the mind of a young girl.  The only thing I speculate is that he must be an outstanding observer/listener combined with having a refreshingly keen imagination. He also knows a lot about the complexity of relationships between siblings, chemistry and poisons – something you will discover right off the bat.  I also find it interesting that, in the real world, he lives on The Isle of Man, an island located in the middle of the northern Irish Sea between Ireland and England.  Now – I had heard of the Isle of Man before, but never had taken the opportunity to do any reading about it. I didn’t even know where in the world to find it.  Fascinating.  If I liked to travel (which I do not), I would want to go there.

So – anyway – if you need a break from the real world because there are some things you just simply cannot fix, and -- if you like mysteries -- these books are at the top of my most recent “I suggest you read” list.  I also suggest that you read them in order so that you can see Flavia grow and learn.  She does a good job of it.

Thank you, Alan Bradley, for providing a most wonderful escape.

Sometimes books can make all the difference.