I've been given another day

This day is a little different for me.  Cliff, his sister, and her son went to visit Aunt Gertrude again, and I'm here at home with my dog.  These days it feels very strange to be alone in the house because it's such a rare occurrence.  Of course I have three or four hours to myself most mornings, but I always know Cliff is in the bedroom (and alive, because I check on that first thing).  But most of our days are spent with each of us on a computer or reading device of some kind.  We read a lot in winter.  We're not always saying a lot, but we're in the same room.  I plan a day around the noon meal, which is about the most exciting thing that happens.  This is a good thing, I suppose, because there are some things that cause excitement which I want no part of...  for example, tornadoes, heart failure, slips on the ice, and cows getting out.  

Just hang on for the ride and let's see in which direction my mind wanders today.

Speaking of cows, the two Holstein steers are only here until Monday evening, when we'll take them down the road to the butcher.  I imagine there won't be any more bovines on the place, unless someday the grandson decides to have cows.  Oh, I suppose if we run out of beef in the next three years we could buy a calf to raise, but I seriously doubt it.  So my chores, after next Monday, will consist of walking Gabe a few times daily and feeding the three cats twice a day.  Oh, and checking in on Apollo, the grandson's wife's great Dane, a couple of times on the days Heather works.  Sometimes I bring him over to play with Gabe for a little while.  Heather only works three days a week, never the same days, sometimes on weekends.  So tending to Apollo three times a week isn't much of a chore, especially since I rather enjoy doing it. 

Oh, the cats:  Most of the time I buy Kit and Kaboodle or some similar brand for them.  It's relatively cheap; I don't research what is best for cats, the way I do with Gabe's dog food.  They are barn cats; a lot of things can happen to barn cats that could shorten their lives, and I can't see spending a lot on their food.  I feed them twice a day.  They each need a dish, since Mama Kitty thinks it's vulgar to share a dish with another cat.  Sometimes only one or two of the cats have been showing up at feeding time, but I'll see the tardy one later, heading to the barn to eat.  Last time we were at Costco, I decided to try their Kirkland cat food.  When I tore the bag open at home, the stuff looked unremarkable... no cute little shapes and colors, like some brands.  But when I served some of it up to see how they'd like it.  I swear, you'd have thought those cats hadn't eaten for a week!  All three of them were chowing down as though they were eating hamburger!  Ever since then, all three cats are waiting for me at the barn when I go out to feed them twice a day; even her majesty, fat Mrs. Mama Kitty. 

On another subject, my Amazon Echo, Alexa, died last week, victim of a power surge.  It was plugged in next to our TV, so I'm glad it was only Alexa who died.  I'd had her since July, 2015, so she had a good run.  I have an Echo Tap, which works like Alexa except it isn't voice activated and it doesn't have to be plugged in all the time.  It's great for carrying from room to room or taking outside in the yard.  Cliff, me, and Cora used to go outside and march to John Phillips Sousa tunes playing from the Tap, which I had hooked to a belt-loop.  

A Facebook friend offered to give me his old Echo, since he'd bought a new model, but I told him I wanted the latest one, which I heard has even better sound quality than the original.  Now that I've had it a few days, I can say it does, especially on the bass notes.  And it only cost $79, less than I paid for my original one.  We use Echo for music more than anything else, although I do always keep my grocery list on there, transcribing it to paper when we're ready to go shopping.  I also use it often to find out if certain famous people are dead or alive, or how old they are.

I think Cliff would admit he enjoys Alexa too, mostly for the music.  It's just the neatest thing to think of a song you haven't heard in years and tell her to play it.  In the past, Cliff been hesitant to talk to her himself.  He's more likely to say to me, "Tell that thing to play (naming a song)" and I do.  But the other night he got on a roll, having her play one song after another.  All of them were old country songs, of course, because that's what we like.  Once in awhile he'd get a title wrong and I'd have to give her the right title, but for the most part, he was commanding her very well for an hour or longer, one song after another.  He finally went too far, though, when he told her to play "Wolverton Mountain".  I hate that song!  I can't believe he likes it.  I expressed my displeasure, so he asked me, "What's your favorite song?"

That required some thought, because I love lots of songs.  In my head I filtered out the old hymns I love, because I was pretty sure he was after pure country songs.  What I finally came up with was "Coat of Many Colors" by Dolly Parton.  You know, even if you love a song, familiarity with it will eventually get it to the point that you don't pay attention when it plays.  But the minute I hear the lead-in guitar strumming at the beginning of that song, I melt.  I suppose I can relate to it in part because my family wasn't prosperous, and because my mom sewed all my clothes when I was small, many of them made from pretty, cotton, brightly-colored chicken-feed sacks.        




I wish my readers a wonderful day.