TheBanyanTree: Golds and Reds

[Margaret R. Kramer]

I love getting that extra hour of sleep, except I usually don’t.  I get up
at the same time I always do, but it’s an hour earlier and that gives me a
feeling I received the precious gift of time, a gift of an extra hour to get
things done.

It’s a picture perfect late autumn morning to have that extra hour to enjoy.
It’s below freezing, but the sun is peeking over the trees, there is no
wind, and a few leaves from our tree in the front yard are floating gently
down to the lawn.  Ray did one last mow of the leaves yesterday, so any that
fall now can linger on the grass until spring.

The house is filled with the morning sun.  I love going from room to room
seeing how the sunlight slides in the windows and makes itself at home in
our house.  I don’t get to see that very often, as I’m usually at work when
the morning sun pays us a visit.

Ray and I did our final winter preparations yesterday.  We made room in our
massive garage for the picnic table and benches.  I dumped out the last of
the flower pots and stored them away.  I left the mums and pansies on our
deck so we can enjoy them for a few more weeks.  Ray got the snowblower
ready, although a weather guy I heard on the radio indicated most of our
snow won’t come until March.  Well then, we’re ahead of the curve.

I washed our blankets and big quilt.  After they were clean and dry, I put
the flannel sheets on our bed.  I turned off the water going to the water
spigots on the outside of the house.  I got my oil changed in my trusty VW
earlier in the morning and that wonderful little car got a nice bath and
blow dry in the afternoon.

Speaking of cars, Ray warned me last week something wasn’t right with his
cheapo Ford Escort.  Well, the “not right” went to “very wrong” this week
when the car died on the highway.  He managed to get it to a service shop.
A gasket had slipped off the engine, the oil had run out, and the engine was
frozen.  It would cost $5,000 to replace the engine.  Ray had the car towed
to the dealership when he had originally bought it and used it as a trade-in
for another car – this time a cheapo Ford Taurus.  It’s a nice car, however,
with leather seats, a sun roof, power everything, and a CD player.  I feel
bad for the Ford employees, our St. Paul Ford plant is closing in 2008, but
Fords are shitty cars.

My job duties have shifted again and now I’m working with the brainiacs of
our office.  They’re the system architects  who get nothing done, because
they enjoy talking about it so much.  Their minds go 100 mph and I’m
sprinting along just to keep up.  I love their freestyle approach and for
the first time in the two years I’ve been with the company, I actually feel
like I found a home.  I hope I can stay for a while, because this company
loves to shift people around, and it seems no one does the same job for any
length of time.

The downside is that I’ll have to travel more, which I really don’t like,
but we’re also finishing up things early, so the travel might not be as bad
as it could be.  I thought I might have to be gone during Election Day, but
it turns out I get to stay at home.  I faxed for an absentee ballot, which I
got in the mail the next day, but I won’t have to use it.

Speaking of the election, isn’t everyone sick of those goofy ads?  I hate
the attack ads; they’re so George H. W. Bush, but the Republicans have
latched onto them and can’t let them go.  Then the Democrats respond in
kind, and all of a sudden everyone who is running for office is a relative
of Satan and evil things will happen if we elect this person or that.  Other
than George W. Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld (who are truly evil and don’t
belong on this planet), and maybe a few others, most people running for
office are just people and will do just fine, regardless of party.

The best ad we’ve seen is a bunch of people talking to a bush about the
United States’ various problems, then the announcer says something about
talking to a “bush.”  It’s quite cute and very effective, I think.

We’re set for the little goblins on Halloween.  I heard that we should get
about 20-30 kids, which isn’t too bad.  We live in a sliver tucked in
between the freeway and other main roads.  There are older retired folks and
young families in our neighborhood.  I noticed a few houses were preparing
for Halloween parties last night as I was walking Axel through the
neighborhood.  Cool.  I have the candy ready and haven’t eaten too much of
it myself.  I’ll get pizzas tomorrow for the Halloween feast for the
grandsons when they come over for trick-or-treating.  I love their
excitement about going out and I’m very pleased that I don’t have to go with
them and freeze to death, since it’s supposed to be cold on Halloween night
this year.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net

There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.
~George Carlin