Random 5 for September 25 – Fall, weather, obits, recuperating, friends

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Could you pull these beautiful flowers out to replace with mums?

Could you pull these beautiful flowers out to replace with mums?

Fall – Pumpkins and chrysanthemums are popping up everywhere. The weather has been too warm. I am holding out until October so they last longer. There is nothing worse than a rotting pumpkin on your porch or table. The summer flowers are still blooming their little hearts out. It’s always a hard decision – do you pull out beautiful flowers or wait until it’s freezing cold and your hands shrivel up.

Speaking of weather – Our family is notorious for dying in awful weather. The colder the better. In fact if you can add precipitation of the frozen sort, you have the typical family funeral. I have frozen my buns off in freezing rain standing in a cemetery to watch the casket get lowered. I have snuggled in my coat, gloves, hat and boots in a semi-heated church to listen to a eulogy. This past week a relative died and the weather was fabulous. Just seems wrong.

Ads – There is something solemn about death. I looked up details in an on-line obituary from our local paper. What greeted me were shoes to buy along with flea control and a few other ads. That seemed wrong too. If I want to buy something I’m not going to go to the obit section.

Hibernation – In the spring (while I was whining about where the heck spring was and how much I hated winter) a friend said that he loves winter. The spring-summer-fall is hectic and packed full of everything you want to do. Winter offers a respite, a chance to veg. I get that. I am tiring of the daily watering and garden picking routine. The thought of coming home from the gym in the morning and enjoying my coffee and blogging without the pressure of outdoor chores is blissful….for a few months. Then I am ready for spring again. The problem is that spring isn’t ready for me.

Remembering an old friend – One of my besties in high school had a mother who was a great cook. She gave me a recipe for a German apple cake back in 1960-something that I still use today. I made it this week and tried to look her up in social media. Nada. Friends my age are often reluctant to use social media. It’s a shame because it’s so easy to reconnect that way.

So how was your week? Looking forward to the season change? Or not? Do you find old friends?

39 thoughts on “Random 5 for September 25 – Fall, weather, obits, recuperating, friends”

  1. You made me laugh at your observation about a funeral being “unnatural” in good weather. I’ve only been to funerals on warm, sunny days. The sky is bright and beautiful, and somehow that feels the most unnatural of all! And as you know, our winters are really mild in comparison, but it is still true that gardening chores are minimal and the pace slows. I’m ready, too!

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  2. It’s raining- the front is coming! The front is coming! We’ve had horribly hot extreme heat for far too long. The fronts are slow this year, but one is trying to come through now. We’ll even put up with the 3-4 days of battle rain for a wind switch to the north and drop in temps. It may even last for a couple of days. The dog is already dancing.
    We do hibernate in summer, but once mild hits (anything below 90 counts) it’s time to get back outside! – and Octoberfest starts this weekend at a fav. brewery. (last year we sweated to death)
    How rude those ads in the obits…some computer doesn’t get it – a human should keyboard in!

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  4. Since we’re talking about death, I lost a friend over the weekend and it’s really broken my heart because I so wish I was more attentive to her. She was old, never complained, and when I think of all the shits I go out of my way for who look at me as if I have 3 heads, I ask myself…why wasn’t I kinder to Connie…death, as you know, is big when you’re raised Italian. My mother always read the obits first aptly called, the Italian Racing Form, because as she put it…she would hate to miss anybody, and if she were around today, she’d love those ads.

    Winter, yes…he’s coming up the turnpike and it’s the time of the year I wish I were a bear. Imagine sleeping in till April. sigh

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    • I’m sorry about your friend. I often wish I would have done more after someone dies. My last surviving aunt died this year at 102. She lived with her daughter. I tried to get her to our family reunion for years but her daughter was resistant (not sure why — we all knew each other very well). This year it was at my niece’s house which was 2 blocks away from her home. I was hoping this was the year. She died in Feb. and the reunion was in August. Sigh.

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  5. I identified with your comments about friends your age not using social media. I am in my 70s, and have very few friends who get online. The few who are on Facebook just “lurk” and never participate. The usual story is that a son or daughter put them on FB so they could see pics of grandchildren.

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    • I have a few lurker friends and a few friends who actually post (mostly about their grandkids). I’m on to see what my nieces and nephews are up to. Many older people are afraid of social media because of bad press. If you don’t post naked selfies not much happens.

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  6. The weather here is now tolerable. Still need a/c in the afternoon but mornings and nights just need a fan. I like all the seasons though fall is my favorite. When I lived up north spring was the favorite. Nope, never look up old friends. Sometimes I get an email from someone I knew long ago but that’s about it.

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  7. “Reading, watching movies, cuddling up under a blanket…” all sound like great suggestions to me. Hibernation is one of the fantastic things about winter!
    Donna

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  8. Your mention of seeing shoe ads while you were looking at the obits reminded me of a story my mother told about when she was young and worked in advertising as a copywriter. She said that one of her more interesting and challenging assignments was to write copy for a company called Practical Burial Footwear. Interesting because she learned all about what feet do after death and challenging because she had a hard time maintaining a solemn demeanor (I guess I come by my weird sense of humor honestly).

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  9. My dad passed away in the dead of January, and I got a raging flu while I was there for his funeral. Because my sister was deathly afraid of catching my virus, I spent five VERY expensive days in a downtown Marriott with her leaving chicken soup and OTC meds outside my door. It was surreal. Then the following year my mother had to move from independent living to assisted living, and this too was January. I remember making endless garbage dumpster runs in the sub-zero weather asking myself many unanswerable questions.

    I now have an aunt and uncle who are both very, very frail. I’ve had the worst thoughts that they’ll both pass this coming winter, and this was before I read your post! 🙂

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  10. I have just had four glorious days ALONE. Every time I heard myself say, “I should…” I substituted HALT! OK, I watered the plants and cleaned mildew from the dishwasher, but that’s about all I made myself do. I’ve come to the conclusion that retirees should take one week of vacation every month. One day a week would be acceptable, too. I’ve got it! If I took one day and John took another, we’d really have it made!

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  11. Still hot as hell in Tennessee. I’m in Colorado now on vacation with pleasant days and crisp evenings. So nice. Hope we get some relief in TN before I get home. My flowers probably will all be cooked by then with no one to water them.

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  13. Summer down here tends to be our hibernation time ~ getting caught up inside, reading, watching movies, etc. We do go for early morning beach walks, water aerobics in the pool, and the occasional foray for groceries.

    Then Autumn arrives with 80 degree temps and we start doing day trips again.

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  14. I love the fall and I’m ready for it. The smells, the freshness. I love it.

    I’m with you on ads on the obit page. So crass. Near my mother’s birthday a few years ago, I called the cemetery where she’s buried. The only allow plastic flowers (I DID NOT CHOOSE THIS PLACE). But they put me on hold while checking availability and there were ads for caskets, for the crematorium and burial plots!

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  15. Kate, hibernation… I am with your friend and his feelings about the hectic spring summer season and love just taking it easy in the winter. Reading, watching movies, cuddling up under my beach towel without the craziness of meet and greets that seem to go on all summer. My week was crazy… 😀

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