The Monday after the snow

It snowed all day Saturday. When we woke up, there was already 6 inches of snow, maybe. It was hard to tell because the wind was blowing like crazy. Some places were down to the frozen grass, and other places were piled high in sculpted drifts, like sand dunes. We went out when it was light, to let the dog out and sweep and shovel a little, for the first time. It wasn't really scary, because I was right in front of my house and Ray was there with me, but I could imagine it would be dangerous to be out when there weren't so many people around, say 300 years ago. I guess the native people knew how to stay safe and warm, but a few of the invaders lost a person now and then. Maybe they were drinking and lost their way, maybe the blizzard came up suddenly when they were coming home from their married sister's house after helping her watch her children. I could see the other side of the street, but not the other side of the harbor. From safe inside, we kept checking out the windows or even opening the door. The places we had cleared filled back in soon. The snow seemed to be blowing sideways. Where did it all end up? In the ocean? Snowplow trucks went by once or twice, but they seemed to have decided our street wasn't that important. It's true, it's a small one-way street that doesn't have any offices or businesses on it. 

By Sunday morning, it had stopped. The sun was shining. The streets seemed to be plowed. Ray took the dog out and did some more shoveling, off and on. The neighbors who had a small bulldozer (Bobcat) seemed to enjoy clearing the driveways so the cars could get out. We didn't plan on driving anywhere, but very nice to know we could. It was very cold in spite of the sun. 

I live in an interesting old house--about 250 years old. There's a lot to love about it, but we have done everything we could to make it warm in the winter and it cannot work when it's 9 degrees out. The heat keeps running, trying to warm it up to 65 degrees, but cold mornings it's about 57 or 58 when I get up. If it's a sunny day, I open the shades and it will slowly warm up. Yesterday afternoon, the heat stopped running because it was warm enough. Of course, I wear a sweater all the time and sometimes a scarf or mittens. I drink hot tea most of the morning (I have a great collection--chai, green tea, but mostly Earl Grey). 

The best thing to do is cook. There are only 3 of us most of the time, although I sometimes share food with neighbors or family members nearby. I fantasize about feeding the multitudes, but that would probably take the fun away. A dessert restaurant is my most common fantasy. The idea of renting a space, hiring staff, and doing marketing is a little daunting. Most restaurants fail--and now is definitely not the time to start a business that depends on in-person customers--mail order cookies? hmm

Cinnamon bread--just had the last slice this morning, along with oatmeal with brown sugar, raisins, and half-and-half. Time to make more bread and order more half-and-half. Last night we had bounty rice--we all had seconds. It's ground beef, rice, cabbage, canned tomatoes and sour cream and mozzarella. I suppose it's a little like my Mom's company casserole..need to look up that recipe and see. It's pretty easy to make--chop onions and peppers and saute them, add cabbage, a few herbs, rice, tomatoes. Ray 

Annie

As I go through old photos during this stretch of gray and drizzly days (yes, we had a lovely time at Christmas, better than most in recent memory, maybe because it involved an 8-year-old some of the time, maybe because A. came to stay for a few days), I see again the photos of Annie Payson Call, who was a friend of the family to my mother's mother, Mildred Kimball Bonney. Uncle Paul, my mother's older brother, was apparently a scholarship student at the Mt. Prospect School for Boys, where she taught or was somehow connected with the principal. (He was her special friend??) As far as I know, Annie never married or had children, but I could be wrong. 

There are photos of Paul with other boys sledding and skiing and photos of Annie with him and other family members. I was curious and googled her and found some interesting stuff. She taught for about 30 years at a girls' school. She taught them how to take care of their nerves. This is not something we hear about nowadays, that women especially need to protect themselves against nervous breakdowns. The classes involved exercises, breathing, and self-hypnosis. She made the front page when two students had nervous breakdowns and it was argued that these classes had contributed to weakening their nervous systems. I think of it as sort of a precursor to yoga...but I wonder if women needed to learn self-care because they were not well treated by society? 

I don't think this is Grammie Bonney, with Paul, Norma and Eleanor.