It’s the little things

 

A much younger Jacob 
The timer on my toaster ovenstarted going off about seven minutes before the time was up—and it went offalmost continually for those seven minutes. Sophie does not like the toasteroven, and when it goes off, she barks—incessantly. I tried the chat functionwith Breville, where after a long wait someone said they were referring me tothe proper department—and apparently hung up, because the chat went dead. Iknew I should call, but for over a week I’ve been avoiding it. I think I onlyused the oven two or three times, and nights when we had a skillet supper, likelast night, it was easy to put it out of my mind. But it was on my calendar,and the computer kept reminding me it was days overdue.

So I bit the bullet andcalled. Got a woman with an indeterminate accent—not good for my old ears.Apparently not good for her comprehension either. I relayed what was happening,and I guess tried too hard to be cute, because I added, “My dog barks at itconstantly, and it’s really annoying.” She replied, “I don’t understand. Youhave a dog ….?” I finally had to say, “Forget the dog!” Wonder of wonders, shemade two suggestions: stop using the bake function when I should be using roastand unplug the oven for two hours so the timer can reset itself. That’s one ofthose simplistic solutions that leaves you wondering why you didn’t just dothat in the first place. I unplugged, and it apparently fixed the problem. Ifeel like a combination of a ninny and a success.

Rain is not a little thing—exceptwhen it comes in a drizzle as it did today. The morning was dark and damp and drizzly,and I worried about Jacob who was playing in a high school golf tournament (52area schools). Apparently, the rain didn’t stop it, and he did a good job,Meanwhile at home the rain was creating small miracles. The lantana isblooming, and the hyacinth vine on the fence by my desk window is sending out afew tentative blooms. Those plants have been dormant all summer, doing theirbest to survive. Now, they won’t bloom for long, but I’ll take what I can get.

I went to the podiatrist today.The doctor’s wife/receptionist asked about my VW bug and when I told her it istwenty years old, she said, “Oh, and I remember when you got it!” We decided weare both aging, but I thought it was nice that I’ve had that established relationshipwith them for that long and that she remembers personal details when I am oneof many, many patients. I like them both a lot but dislike their building: thehandicap ramp has a really coarse pebbled surface. I got about halfway down,clutching the railing, and suddenly sat in my walker, told Christian I wasgiving up. He, kind soul, pushed me to the car.

No cooking tonight. We hadtake-out sandwiches from our favorite sub place. It was sort of nice to realizein the late afternoon that I didn’t have to cook. Mostly I enjoy it but a nightoff every once in a while is welcome. Now I find I won’t cook for the next twonights either, except for myself, so I may be ready to cook a fine meal comeMonday. Tomorrow is a football game, and Sunday the Burtons will go to hissister’s for her birthday

Tonight I’m checking on thewhereabouts of my other children. I thought Colin was in Montreal for work, butmy “Find Friends” tells me he’s home in Tomball. Megan and Brandon are inTelluride for a music festival, both in awe of a singer (country/western, I presume)that I never heard of. At least I’ve heard of Pearl Jam, though when I sawpictures of the audience bathed in red lights, I was really glad not to bethere. Jamie is apparently back in Frisco after a quick, one-day trip to Miami.I always feel a tiny bit better when they are all tucked in where they belong.Shh! Don’t tell them I track them.

And that’s my day of littlethings. Life is really sweet.