indiana territory

MOVING

Hi,

I am moving on over to another website at The Leaning Cow until I can decide what I really want to do with Indiana Territory. A lot of the later posts on Indiana Territory are already at The Leaning Cow

posted by Jody @ 8:13 AM 0 Comments

I look better in the upstairs bathroom mirror

Yes, I have noticed that when I look at myself upstairs in the master bath with the sunlight over my head, that I don't look too bad. Sometimes, I will not look in another mirror for a long time and then I will catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror somewhere else and I am surprised at the dumpy plain person I see. It occurs to me that I cannot conduct my life from that bathroom but the magic is in THERE, not in the other places I go. I ponder having a picture taken of me in that mirror and pasting it on my face. I guess I could start out with first pasting it on a bag and then putting the bag over my head. I don't think anyone would take me for a bank robber since I am not a president nor a movie star. But they might take me to the funny farm, which isn't politically correct to say and yet it falls naturally from my tongue.

Now, "asylum" - that would probably be real bad to say. Unfortunately, I say it sometimes: "Well, I'll just pack my bags and go to the asylum." No, I don't say that. I say, "You pack your bags and go to the asylum." Of course, I use asylum so much that no one thinks too much about it being insensitive. Odd though, it's okay to say you're seeking political asylum . . . Oh, never mind, I see my mind is all over the place.

posted by Jody @ 5:27 PM 0 Comments

Beware of Stephen King's Christine - the movie

Last night, I knew Christine was going to be on TV and when I finished reading my book and talking to my mother (see below) on the phone, I turned on AMC and watched the latter part of it. I didn't think the car - Christine - was so spooky, in fact, I liked the way it repaired itself. I did think the actor playing Arnie was a bit on the scary side; he made me feel very uncomfortable, more villain than victim. Anyway, it ended up and I started thinking, "Where is that copy of the book?"

Then I went to sleep . . . and I dreamed: long, relentless, slow-paced events that centered on my getting in and out of the little green car (RIP). I had a little kid with me I had to keep track of and the car seemed but together oddly, giving me the feeling that any moment I would not be able to understand how to drive it.

I remember, toward the end of the dream, picking up screws off the floor at a Wal-Mart; were they mine that had fallen out of my head, having been loose for so long?

Waking was not an easy task; I had to talk myself into reality. I really dislike that type of dreaming; where are the dreams of beaches and convertibles? Well, it would be a bummer waking up from them as well.

posted by Jody @ 8:50 AM 0 Comments

Reading and interruptions

I am one of those people who reads - a lot; fortunately for me, when they talk of addictions they don't call readers addicts - they call them bookworms. I have learned to adapt my reading to what is going on around me after all these years, but sometimes I revert to my primal state. Tonight was one of those times. After several questions from my grandson, I asked loudly, "Can't you see I am READING?"

That brings my granddaughter out to where I am to quote what I said to her the night before: "If you can't ignore people talking, you are not a good reader." And, of course, I had to answer that there is a difference between people talking and being asked a direct question. But then, to her anything her brother asks is not worthy of note and I am wrong not to ignore him as well

So, I get them off my back . . . and then I get a phone call. Okay, fine, we're talking, talking, talking and then that call is over and I settle in. I always call my mother in the evening to make certain she is all right; tonight she called me and after a while I told her I was reading, almost to the end of the book. Finally, finally she gets off the line.

Then 30 minutes later the phone goes off on the table, playing Honky Tonk Blues and vibrating against the wood. And I knew. I really, really knew. I answered with a gritted out hello and I heard, "Did you finish your book and then . . . and this is from a notoriously grouchy lady . . . laughter.

This is that lady, in case you don't remember:

posted by Jody @ 11:51 PM 0 Comments

Sign of spring . . . finally

ACK! Blue color washed out in sunlight.

posted by Jody @ 11:11 AM 0 Comments

Earthquake felt in Kendallville, Indiana . . . after memory tweaking

They had an earthquake this morning in some 130+ miles east of St. Louis - a 5.4 or 5.5 (now being listed as a 5.2) and I didn't feel it. Although some news reports said it was felt as far north as southern Michigan and that building's in Chicago's Loop swayed, I DIDN'T FEEL IT.

I was awake, but stretched out on the sofa, thinking should I doze or keep reading. At one point the dog jumped down, turned around and stuck his nose in my face - maybe it was the earthquake, but I assumed he wanted a dog biscuit to add to his collection. Later I saw the breaking news story, but didn't say anything to anyone in the house. My daughter-in-law just now caught a snatch of the story on TV and exclaimed, "Oh, my gosh, I felt it!"

She's a nurse and she said, "I knew I wasn't having a seizure because I was alert." Okay. Well, I missed it. I can't remember even being vibrated on a cushion sensation. Nothing, Zilch. Even the over-piled coffee table by my usual sitting spot remained unchanged.

Wait a minute . . . you know how police go over and over the questioning of a subject . . . I think I was aware of it; I remember thinking, that, gee the dog is vibrating against my legs.

So maybe I did feel an earthquake, but I had to figure it out . . . maybe it is a false memory. Perhaps if I keep thinking about it, I will suddenly remember being shaken onto the floor as the ceiling fan swayed menacingly above me.

It couldn't have been too much, though, because I was not aware of my body's extra weight feeling like a bowl full of jelly .

posted by Jody @ 11:10 AM 0 Comments

Hot icebox

I know it is not an icebox; it is a refrigerator - the thing that sits in my kitchen. I sometimes call it an icebox, though.

The summer I was born, my father delivered blocks of ice for iceboxes. He was a teacher then and I think he worked for my great uncle's ice business. My grandmother had an icebox, I'm certain. I vaguely remember it. But then we also had a 1948 Frigidaire and to tell you the truth, I don't know if it is still working or not. I know it was a few years ago. It had this little, tiny freezer compartment that came down like a nodule from the inside top - and icecube trays that had a little ratchet type release handle.

I have always been behind the times when it has come to icebox improvements. I did not have an icemaker for decades . . . and only a few years ago did I get a refrigerator that dispenses ice through the door, as well as chilled water - which I don't use.

Yesterday, the divider that separates the freezer part and the refrigerator half got really hot. I vacuumed the coils, but that didn't help. So I called the local repairman; he made a point of getting over last night and found the hose for the water had blocked the compressor fan. So he unblocked it. I paid him and he left, and then I turned to the newly-revealed accumulation of gunky dirt in the refrigerator area and thought, "Oh, my God." So we made a stab at cleaning it. I took no pictures, no pictures at all.

Gosh, I'm a yucky housekeeper . . . I need a maid - or to move every year.

posted by Jody @ 7:10 AM 0 Comments

Hey! The driveway moved.

Now that the snow pack has completely melted off and the trapped leaves beneath it been raked - to some degree - I see that the driveway is not where we assumed it was. That is, to be blunt about it, the actually cement is closer to the spruce tree and farther away from the hedge. We had been quite comfortable making the curve between the two, using the frozen snow path as a guide. As it turns out, the spruce stretched out at the bottom and we were making a bigger arc.

Jody with clippers . . . Ah, the thought is scary, and gets scarier when I think of putting a ladder against the trunk and just dropping those lower branches. Hey, I've been watching Ax Men. Maybe if I watched the show while staying at an Holiday Inn Express, I would be a real expert.

Jody with a chain saw!!! Yes!!! The possibilities . . .

posted by Jody @ 7:09 AM 0 Comments

Mother has her TV converter box

Yes, the coupons came - she says they look like a credit card - and Mother took one of them up to the Wal-Mart in Sturgis, Michigan and purchased a Magnavox model for $49.95 or something like that. (The coupon took that down to $9.95 plus tax.) Since she has 90 days to use them, she is going to check into other manufacturers' product. But now she has this one and we will be hooking it up . . . just kind of for the heck of it, out of curiosity, if you will. We know it's a long time until next February, but heck, we don't want to delay and wind up facing the Christmas Eve Toy Putting Together Syndrome. Now, that's stress.

I'm grateful that these coupons are available because my mother, child of the Great Depression as she is, might decide to forgo getting a converter box and just do more reading. Not that reading wouldn't be fine, but I really would like for her to have some way to watch news stories and important happenings . . . such as the attack on the World Trade Center.

posted by Jody @ 8:23 AM 0 Comments

Two Roberts - 1971 - Kingman, Indiana

posted by Jody @ 10:24 AM 0 Comments

There will be Blood - I watched it for Redbox

Gee, I don't know about this movie. Well, that is inaccurate; I do know something about it - I watched it once, fell asleep in the middle and then watched it over again. Today I watched scenes for a second and sometimes third time.

I think it is a sad movie; I wouldn't rent it again or watch it if it shows up on TV in the future. And I am certain it will. I have seen it; I know what people are talking about when they speak of it; I understand the plot. I have done my homework. That is the way I think of it.

Not only did I find it sad, I found it slowly sad and getting sadder - maybe like a rock rolling downhill with reverse momentum.

I have heard some think it is a great movie; I think maybe it could have been.

I'm sticking with No Country for Old Men when it comes to this year's movies.

posted by Jody @ 8:19 AM 0 Comments

Alison - three pictures

Alison as a baby.
Alison at 4 1/2
Alison at 16.

posted by Jody @ 8:48 AM 0 Comments

I have transmission fluid in my hair

I have transmission fluid coming out from my engine area and I decided to get under the car and figure out what was going on, since the car is becoming quite frankly and eyesore - but I love it. Still, it is due to have its brakes fixed and I don't want to spend that kind of money if the transmission is going to be expensive.

So, I put on old clothes and slid under the car and stared at dirty greasy things. I got out from under the car and started it . . . then I sort of got a little bit back under it and saw the drip seemed to be coming from a certain area.

I wiped that area clean (after shutting the car off) and then turned it back on for a few seconds to see if I could narrow my search area down. Well, I think I did. Then I get this great idea to put tape around the tube/hose that looks worn and is leaking and see what happens. Okay. Nothing leaks.

I go and get transmission fluid and put it in; fortunately the pour point is on top of the engine and Thank God I remembered to get a funnel. I put the fluid in, could shift and everything . . . and then my patch started to leak.

But, hey, I didn't give up. I did it all over again. This time it leaked more. I am going to have it towed to the shop.

I don't know how many times I got under that car and out from under that car. A lot. I also got dirty and after a while I realized I was lying in transmission fluid. My hair was in the stuff.

I showered but my hands are pretty black still and my hair feels really, really funny.

I really tired hard and failed, but it doesn't feel so bad. I think there is a fix out there that I just haven't thought of yet. I did consider super glue, but that is probably better not tried.

posted by Jody @ 5:31 PM 0 Comments

Bird music

I am not complaining, but I have noticed that when spring comes round, birds are loud. It has finally dawned on me where the word atwitter came from, as in, "The tearoom was all atwitter." It is not unpleasant at all - just a sound that was missing in the past winter mornings. I think it started off with one bird chirping right outside in the shrubs by the windows. Now, those shrubs are alive with the sound of music. Oh, look, there's a bird in lederhosen! I have not looked at the weather prediction - I am hoping for at least some cheery sun as I continue to scrape my way though the layer cake of dirt, leaves, more dirt, and rotten leaves that were caught beneath the snow this year. There are occasional other finds as well, such as a wind-caught soda can that was once entombed, unknown, in an edge of the driveway mound of packed snow and ice. Then we have been working away at things in shady areas which have only bit by bit been released from the ice - errant pieces of firewood for instance. Leaves are everywhere, in every crack and crevice where a late fall wind blew them and an early snow trapped them. But, while working on them, I looked up at the maple and saw those reddish buds against a blue sky. What is so fascinating is that in a month we will have leaves ON THE TREES and fresh mulch and grassy areas cleared of sticks and twigs the occasional dropped knit glove.

posted by Jody @ 7:29 AM 0 Comments

Closed eyes . . .

I have done this many time before, but I am here at my computer when I happened to think of it. Sometimes when I close my eyes in the daytime, I think that I could be anywhere, that my location is determined in my mind by what my eyes see. If I am not pleased with my view or setting and I close my eyes, I mostly generally will remain in my mind where I actually am. But, if I close my eyes and thing of other places and other times, I can experience part of that place of time. And there are things that surprise me.

Today, I just leaned over on my sofa and pulled my legs up and rested. I thought of the porch at my grandparents' house in Kingman, Indiana and lying in that position on the swing. Of course, I lay very still because the motion of the swing would make me sick, as did riding in a car.

I was thinking of just the summer afternoon in Kingman when all at once it occurred to me that my body didn't feel right on my remembered swing. I had imported the place but I was bigger. Not so much grown up as I would still lay on the swing when I was 18, but BIGGER in the hips and everywhere. And what was this pull on my jaw? Could it be sagging facial muscles and skin?

But I put that out of my mind, and saw things as they were then - the bushes, the screen door, the steps, the space in the porch walls where water could drain. And, then I got up and went out and raked some leaves - that girl on that swing would have been appalled at the wait I have put on her frame.

posted by Jody @ 1:46 PM 0 Comments

Super glue accident

Yesterday when I super glued Gopher' name back on him, I closed the glue tube and put it on the table. Late last evening I thought that I'd just grab that glue and use it to stick something else back together. I got the tube open and something went wrong and glue was all over my fingers and my wedding ring was glued to me and I got so upset that I became a run-on sentence writer.

posted by Jody @ 8:33 AM 0 Comments

Remember Gopher the Bear?

his morning as I was leaning over to tie my shoe, I caught sight of an old looking piece of dried paper. When I picked it up, I realized it was not paper, but masking tape - the masking tape that had Gopher's name on it. It was bent over and wrinkled; I must have sat on Gopher sometime yesterday and his name came off.

A tremendous sadness overwhelmed me as I remember the day we had put it on him: time passes; things change. I dropped the old tape on the coffee table I use to hold my things - drinks, pencils, remotes, batteries and so forth. Then I felt just really done in and I stared at the tape, thinking, "Just let it go." A minute, two minutes. I picked up the tape and straightened it out; it had that fragile quality that dried out old masking tape gets. But there it was - GOPHER - resting in my hand.

So I got the super glue and put it back on. Call me sentimental . . .

Oh, yeah, I'll get a picture when Gopher settles down.

posted by Jody @ 4:54 PM 0 Comments

I am slipping . . . and so is my transmission

Yesterday, I was apprised that two rummage sales would be held today: Faith Methodist at 8 am and the Catholic Church at 9 am. I go to the first day, even though my real time to shine is on $1.50 Bag Day when you can cram as much as you are skilled enough to handle into a grocery bag. I am very skilled.

If anything has an empty space in it, I fill it with something - anything. My bag leaves the church as a solid cube. I give them a donation to even things out; I just pack the bag like that to retain my title and have the thrill of "engineering the squash" success.

But, that's maybe history. This spring I forgot about the rummages sales until 10 o'clock. I jumped up when I suddenly remembered and then flopped back down. Despair.

Finally, I decided getting there was better than not going at all and made up my mind to go right away. My pants were too loose and I couldn't find my belt right off the bat, so I used a safety pin to attach them to my shirt. Then I put a big sweatshirt on and pulled it down low and went.

It was great; I walked in and there sat a retro aluminum cake cover and bottom. Do you know how useful those are? I love them and they look cool - like I am hip or whatever. "Hip" isn't the current lingo, is it? Did I give myself away? Probably. Good, I no longer have to worry about keeping it secret.

I also got a nice 50's type cotton tablecloth for outside when we grill. And . . . and . . . a Pfaltzgraff pie pan, a large serving bowl, a creamer, three little serving bowls for $5. The price said $5 for all that and about six plates and a bunch of cups and soup bowls and a butter dish, plus a couple of other pieces. I couldn't see being greedy, so I took the ones I wanted, gave them a high $5 - no, I handed it over at normal level - and went happily on my way.

Then I realized there was a puddle of transmission fluid under the little green car.

AAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH

posted by Jody @ 4:44 PM 0 Comments

Virtual Tourist

Well, I was just thinking about virtual travel, an by corollary, being a virtual tourist. So I picked a spot on the map while closing my eyes. It was Vermont and I pulled up the state map and selected an area and zoomed in until the town Bellows Falls caught my eye. So I decided to look around, not so much for the facts you can pull up in three seconds in a Google search, but in little tidbits of Bellows Falls connections.

Governor Thomas Salmon (1973-77) came to Bellows Falls and practiced law after his days as Governor and University President. His one time personal residence is for sale. I have linked to a page that shows the wallpaper that is in the house now. It's not my taste, but you can see it here. I then looked at Wikipedia and found this picture:



But here's an interesting fact: HIs son, Thomas M., was elected State Auditor in 2006. After the first vote count, he trailed by 137. He asked for a re-count and was 102 votes over his opponent, incumbent Randolph Brock. Never before had a Vermont state-wide election result been changed by a re-count. Kind of ironic that the election was for auditor. Thomas M., by the way, is a CPA.

If I am ever in Bellows Falls, I think I would at least stop in here.



I found the above photo at Flickr; it was taken by Sunset Sailor.

posted by Jody @ 9:27 AM 0 Comments

Bear names . . .

I wrote before about how my younger son and I named the bears I had begun collecting because it was so hard to believe anything as cute as they were could only be material and stuffing. This is Gopher; we are certain of this because we put their names on their butts.

posted by Jody @ 4:46 PM 0 Comments

Tire mulch - I'm happy with this

This red mulch is rubber and is made from recycled tires. I don't think it looks too bad, and actually since it is a purpose for old tires that are usually in landfills, I think it is very lovely.

posted by Jody @ 1:14 PM 0 Comments

Wal-Mart doesn't check out okay in the end

It started out okay with the old barn I love in the background of Wal-Mart's spring outdoor stuff; $5 films: 20 Alfred Hitchcock, included a couple of silent films and A River Runs Through It - great book, great movie. Then we hit the check-out line. Yes, line and oh, my gosh, only two lights were on for people who had more than 11 items and couldn't use a Fast Lane because they don't want full cart people to do that. We waited such a long time.

When I got up to the cashier, for whom I have great sympathy, I noted that they have two automated questions on the touch screen for payment: Was the store clean? or Did your cashier greet you? There is no question that asks "Were enough lines open?" We got to talking and she confirmed they 1) have to call Arkansas if they are sick and can't make it in and 2) have to pass a customer to another associate if it's time for their shift to end. That's really fun when you are asking questions about a product and then have to ask them all over again of another person.

But it's sunny today, so that is good.

posted by Jody @ 1:10 PM 1 Comments

Grover and Summer

I am not pleased with my granddaughter's attitude about Grover. She says he is stupid. What a jerk . . . she is. She found a copy of The Monster at the End of This Book on th bookshelf and was joking around with it in front of her dad. I told her that wasn't the original book - that we had gone through perhaps four copies when her dad was somewhere around one year old. I would sit on the little cherry rocker that had belonged to me grandfather, the one that I had been rocked in, and read TMTETB over and over again. The cover, back and front - fell off of the first one; one copied split in half. They were all stained and wrinkled and dogeared. I didn't need the book to remember the words, but I appreciated for Grover's picture. My memory could never do justice to his little face and gestures and the true-blueness of his fur.

Now, this twerp girl mocks him. Never you mind her, Grover. You are so very dear to so many of us here. I love you.

posted by Jody @ 8:10 AM 0 Comments

Mother and hat . . . but not the mad bomber

posted by Jody @ 5:15 PM 0 Comments

wind . . .Wind . . . WIND . . . wind . . . wind

I look at that title and even thought I was thinking of the wind that is weather - breezes, gusts, straight line and so forth, I get the image of a wind-up toy in my mind. But never mind that. Too late? Well, I should have kept my mouth shut.

It is windy here. No, do not see all the folks walking around stiffly with a little thing to twist coming out of their backs; words such as "wind" can be a problem, can't they? Another one is polish. How much polish do you need to screw in a light bulb? For seem reason my spirits are up right now, even though they are manifesting themselves in a juvenile fashion. I mean spirits as in attitude - not liquor, although it is up too. You knew that though, didn't you?

Okay, really, the shrubs and trees are whipping around and I have to go out and drag a limb that came down off the sidewalk. I am hoping it is a dead one that has been threatening to come down and will be light and, obviously, no longer a threat. I was not aware of this until middle age, but the chief cause of death in the days of early settlement in these parts was falling limbs. Sometimes it amuses me to think of how residential lots are now advertised as "wooded" when back then, the draw might have been a "clearing" in which to build.

I have strayed from the weather topic - I guess the wind blew me off.

posted by Jody @ 9:02 AM 0 Comments