TubaOrNotTuba

I have just come inside from doing something out of the ordinary. I was sitting on the front step. For an hour or two. Again a different step from my usual routine. Right now we are in that quiet. Between visits one carload of children has left and another is incoming. Inside the house there is a really noisy floor cleaning routine. But outside a very different soundscape. A gentle breeze with some birds and that indescribable backdrop of grass growing. I’m sure that it makes a noise for someone but not for us. On the road the occasional motorcycle revs up through its gears as it leaves the corner to the west and heads to their destination to the east. Again normal thing in the summer. I have no interest in returning to life in a large city. This is so much better. Certainly there are limitations. I have fewer options buying bread. As for the mail service it’s equal when I have had over the last four decades no home service. Just a locked box down the way that we check from time to time. If there is anything important a car will swing by and leave it on that same front step that I was using as my platform. Over the last couple of weeks there have been dogs in the house. Not much conversation but I tend to watch where I step. You have to let a sleeping dog lie. This is the optimum time of the year to visit. No need for socks or shoes or sleeves. If I want to do something crazy I can go down to the shore and get really wet. But I won’t because I’m old enough to know better. Apparently there are sharks in the water. Nothing dangerous but something to be aware of. Apparently. I would be more alert to getting a bad sunburn. I hear that bird in the kitchen that lets me know that we’re now going into the afternoon. I count, a lot on that bird. I also no longer have to carry a clock in my pocket.

I am glad to put this morning behind me. It turns out that there is something as annoying as a mosquito in the dark. The sound of construction equipment. A consistent beeping. The rattle of a bulldozer that has not been greased in years. The sound of a dump truck letting its tailgate slap. All of this to do some minor reconstruction on the end of the next door driveway. I have not been out to actually check the progress but it seems that the culvert was not large enough for a plan to improve the rural equipment pass down to lower potato fields. Right now the crew is on a lunch break I assume. Based on the clock. It might well be that they have finished their job and will go off to annoy other people. I will not be sure until later today. We received no prior warning of the plan. Just the resulting sounds. And yes having the right size of culvert is a great idea. One way to avoid a flash flood if ever we get heavy rain. We probably will not but this does give work to the person that drives the bulldozer. I would offer an alternative timeline that would take them into the snow months but I do not believe they have any interest in that plan. Smart bulldozer drivers head for better weather when they can. And I really do not need to have quiet around me all the time. We are preparing for a change in visitors. Sometime early tomorrow morning my son and his tiny family will head home. Later that day another son and his tiny family will arrive. I may have to get out the vacuum cleaner just to do my part in preparations. Based on my tests completed without socks and shoes there might be more sand on the floor then at other times of the year. I am not to blame.

In what was almost a lifetime ago the group known as The Beatles offered up an observation with the title a day in the life. For us over the last couple of weeks we have been noting our own changes. Call it a month in the life if you wish. We have a very young child living in the house. And every day, literally, we notice new moments. An evolution of behavior. I had forgotten the child has to learn to do everything. And that includes such elements as laughing. Reaching out for their toys with all of the physical requirements. Paying attention to the comings and goings of the other people in the house. Extending the arms to mom and dad. We are seeing all of this and so much more through the eyes of mature adults. I consider myself mature just so you know. And it has been wonderful. Someone had told me that as a grandparent I would finally have the chance to watch a small child without any other effort on my part. Just watch. You do you hear things as well. Laughter is something that a child learns almost in the beginning. A conclusion that growing older is good for all involved. I realize that this summer will be over all too soon. And if I am fortunate I can do it all again add another time. Remember that as you change into that mature adult stage you have no given guarantee anything will come about. I am filled with hope. As for the rest of the assembled group I think they’re also enjoying this time of change. Maybe they will also take a few moments to let the rest of the world know that the future does seem brighter.

Most of the time any restaurant you can trust the menu. The owners know what people want to eat and they’re there to sell it to them. However we are not all created equal. I have a certain memory of a platter of seafood that I purchased in the eighties in a train station here in Canada. The meal was labeled as seafood on the plate I could identify most of the food with one exception. Small colourless lumps. Apparently a delicacy for others but I still take exception. I tried and I detested. My first encounter with a smoked oyster. I know what an oyster looks like. Not something you want to describe to people with sensitive stomach. However these were different. I imagine that with the right condiments it would have been good but I was young and senseless. This was a mistake that I only needed to make on one occasion. From that point on I asked. Somebody on staff had to be able to explain what I was eating before I did so. No wonder we all love fast food because there the flavor is dependable. I must ask my sons if they have had any similar moments along the way. They are much better traveled and more aware of the world that I was at the age of sevnteen. And buying food in a large train station food fest should have been safe but it wasn’t. No I did not get food poisoning just an awareness that food means different things to different people. Am I too old to ever try an oyster? The more I think about it the more I am sure. They put that huge shell there to protect the rest of us. You can be badly injured trying to get inside the shell to then eat something that you probably will not enjoy.

I live in a small house on a small island nearest small sea. The house is something akin to a boat in that it floats. On a sea of groundwater from what I have been told. I have a special hole in the floor in the basement that fills with that same water at times of the year. And yes I do fear a flood. There is a pump in that same hole to take out the excess water most of the time however we have winter and a certain times of that winter things thaw. The exact opposite of freezing. There is a special hose that will lift with the help of a pump any excess water to the outside. Except when things suddenly freeze after that thaw. And so for more than a decade we have been paying particular attention to that whole. Today that has changed. A couple of plumbers stopped by and rewrote it the sump pump hose to a different place. Not yet tested but I do have great faith in the knowledge about plumber. I could have gone to the hardware store and purchased a big box of pieces and put them all together but that would be foolish because I do not know how to do this in a way that will keep my rising waters at bay. Plumbers know that sort of thing. It might cost me a little extra but I am paying for that knowledge. You can tell me all you want about check valves and water flow and all the rest but I feel much better allowing a professional to make sure that my needs have been met. We will not know for another half year if this is worked as we hope but again I believe in the knowledge of others. I will not be spending any more nights watching that whole. And yes the sump pump could fail. It would not be the first time. But you have to have faith in what you have. And the plumber fully understood our worries. He was able to plan a solution in less time than it would take me to describe the symptoms. A great way to spend a hot summer day.

The rest of the house is away. Exploring, somewheres. I am here guarding the castle with the two dogs. We have signed a treaty which involves sharing a food and pact of non aggression I will not bite unless I am provoked. It makes for a quiet morning because the dogs tend to talk only to each other. I am just a bystander there to open the door in case of emergency. The original plan was that the rest of the group would go to visit a local museum. I declined the chance because I have been there before. Many times. The museum has been open for more than 50 years and it is probably the best tourist attraction around here if you discount the many beaches. What I’ve learned in that museum during those years is that the information is good but the displays are static. I am sure that when you get a net hung properly you do not move it around. Ditto for the various artifacts from a lifetime of fishing in the area. Go here to learn about trolling or hunting for eels but do not go to learn local legends. For them everything is related to fishing which is only a part of our local heritage. I have been given permission to eat that which I wish. A chocolate chip muffin or a ripe peach or more of the various citrus globes that are on the table. Quite enough to keep me from going hungry. The dogs have their own kibble and we do not share. If anyone stops by I will explain that this is a normal day here. That we wait for interesting moments and spend the rest of the time quietly asleep. Blame it on the warm temperature. Having missed the museum I am able to imagine what it was like when I first visited. There is not much that you can do with old fishing gear. None of the catches are kept on site although I do remember in the early times when someone had a boat down below and would explain the process of retune of the codfish into cod fillets. I am curious if anyone that I know is working at that museum helping those who visit to better understand the mysteries.

When I awoke this morning, long before my first cup of coffee, I could tell that something was different. A change in my universe. During the early morning hours the house had been invaded bye bees. Two of them. Not actual insects. Rather a baby and a dog artfully disguised with yellow and black stripes. Hey I would include photos but they have since flown away. Let me add the large dog with stripes is visible even to me. No buzzing sound. Just a visual clue then I should step carefully. To clarify this was a celebration after a fashion. I still don’t know the whole back story but the baby and the dog we’re in costume for a photography moment. My parents did not do things like that. Looking back through old photo albums the closest I could come was to find myself sitting on the grass near a house. The house is still there. I think it is important to point out that those who can do capture memories using a camera. Only the subject matter changes. I wish I had been given a bee costume when I was still young enough to appreciate how snazzy it was or is. Perhaps I should shop and see if I can find something that will fit me all these years later. Then I could go out and sit on the grass near a house and hope that a photographer came along to record that moment in my history. Just a thought. The dog never even notest. Some dogs get used to being costumed. And babies until they acquire the right level of language also forget those moments. Unless confronted with a photo that gives witness to the crimes of fashion committed by a parent.

Tell me where you are from. If I happen to share any common memories with you I will happily relate them. Building a common experience. Turns out that it is a job for many people who post videos on YouTube about cities that you might visit if you are being a tourist. Yes, I do seek out the videos dealing with my area. After all since I do not get out very much this is one way to find out what is new in town. How else would I know that someone had opened a huge video arcade with lots of retro machines. No,it is not in my bucket list of things to visit but if you ask me about a place to go I will point you in that direction. Again it seems like a friendly thing to do. Trying to get accurate information about almost anything is much easier than it used to be. No need to spend time with an encyclopedia. We all have them in our pockets. If you end up in a new part of town take the time to do your research. Save yourself those moments that we all remember. To be fair videos about tourism places have a tendency to be gentle. It is pretty hard to say something bad about an ice cream parlor. I do think that we have a better system than before. The same rule holds for many other things. If you were thinking about taking on another hobby you can do much of your basic research from the comfort of your living room. No need to get out in trade elbows with the public. Do I look forward to being a tourist once again? I will do some research and get back to you. Right now I am more concerned about keeping my first grandchild happy.

I suppose this holds true in any situation involving a language barrier. Locally we speak a common language with our neighbors but we do not always have the same vocabulary for things. We have found this to be true especially when trying to get repairs done around the house. You call and the tradesman wants to know what you need done. You can use generalized language but that will inevitably require that they come on site just to see what is going on. How much easier it would be if we knew what to say when we dial the number. A case in point. We need a small adjustment to our plumbing system. Nothing too important. The issue has been going on for a decade but it would be nice to correct it. And so you call and say that your sump pump does not always take the water outside at least not in a timely manner. You have one vision of the problem and the plumber probably has a very different one. After all he deals with real water flow. So now we’re waiting. Hoping that someone will come by and look at our problem and come to the assumption that this is an easy fix requiring a short amount of time and a small amount of money. The ideal in any repair case. We do not know how this will be resolved. Of course if we knew we would have already resolved it. I did mention that it has been a decade. But right now in the middle of summer we have a situation that is as good as it will get. Much better than trying to get things repaired during a winter storm. And so the call has been placed and we will wait to see what happens next. Probably for someone who understands how all the systems fit together this will be a 15 minute job. I figure we have time on our side and people around here understand why such things need to be done. No reinvention of the wheel will be necessary. I will let you know how things turn out.

When I was growing up and still living under my parents roof we did not own an outdoor cooking device. What the rest of you call a BBQ. Nor did anyone else in the neighborhood. Put it down too schedules and climate but the idea of going outside to cook was not part of the menu. The closest we came was a time tested Coleman 2 burner stove. One where you would put in fuel and pump madly until you thought you had enough pressure and then light the flame. No we did not cook over that open heat source. It gave a nasty taste to things that were cooked. Instead we would boil water amp repair hot dogs. I guess we did not have the budget for steak either. As soon as I had my own home with the deck I was off to the hardware store to purchase my first grill. I think I spent longer on the assembly then on the actual preparing of meals. But we do own a grill which I no longer use because I cannot tell if the meat has changed colour. Red to pink to brown to black. However I came across a video that explained the history at the home BBQ and the strong cultural leanings involved. Your sauce is a function of where you live. Hence when I hear about southern BBQ I have to step back and interpret what is meant I even purchased a rotisserie gadget but I cannot claim to have successfully prepared a chicken with it. I will check with my siblings to find if there outdoor kitchens I’m more evolved. As for all those sacks of charcoal that are sold in local stores I was under the impression that this was an odd to the home blacksmith. Like my grand father although he used coal. Actually that is one of the things that I am sorry I never got to see.