The Help

My closets have needed to be cleaned out forever. Change of seasons is usually a perfect time but this year winter seems to want to hold on while spring is tentative and now summer just wants to blast on through.

Saturday it was raining and 40 degrees F
Tomorrow it's supposed to near 90

How does one dress?

Layers I suppose

I started closet cleaning this weekend.

Isadora helps. 

She gets very insulted if I move her so she is the perfect excuse to walk away and leave the closet for another day.

Nana and Passover

I always feel my grandmother around me a bit more at Passover. She loved the holiday.

As I started up my snow covered car today I was immediately transported back. 

To the small kitchen in the 2nd story walk-up; right above The Loyal Order of the Moose on the avenue. I was standing at the casement window futzing with the little pots of herbs.

"It's going to be snowing for Passover Nana"
She chuckles. "Snow should be the only thing Jews worry about. It's weather, you walk through weather and don't question it. It's spring, it will melt quickly."

Oh how I loved her laugh, especially the little chuckles. Seemed just about anything I said delighted and amused her. 

The car seemed to take on the color of that kitchen. My uncles had surprised Nana one Mother's Day by wallpapering the room.

"Oh my. This looks lovely. You're wonderful boys, thank you. Sit. Eat."

Later that night

"Nana do you really like the wallpaper?"
"Promise not to tell. They wanted to do something good. I love that."
I promised
"It's terrible. It's like the Chinese restaurant. Every morning I'm going to want an egg roll."

The scent of Jean Nate has been with me all day.

 

Have a good Passover everybody.
Even if you're not Jewish or religious or observant.
Nana would feed ya.

Walk through the weather.

Take the moment to recall someone who loved you.

Catching the Fall

Right before Hurricane Sandy I set out to capture as much of fall's beauty as I could before the leaves were all blown away.

Yesterday I ventured further into the hardest hit areas of NJ to check on a friend from the VFW and to see if my car mechanic's shop was still there. They're both bruised but OK.

On the trip down and back I saw so much debris and had to be re-routed several times. It was hard to see and harder to look away.

I found myself so sad and a bit angry with nature.

And so I need to remind myself - and share with you - the beauty of nature.

Apologies if there are too many shots, they all seem to depend on each other.

How little we have, I thought, between us and the waiting cold, the mystery, death--a strip of beach, a hill, a few walls of wood or stone, a little fire--and tomorrow's sun, rising and warming us, tomorrow's hope of peace and better weather . . .

~ Robert Nathan

NATURE NOTES

Our World Tuesday

Hope Says ...

Nana, you have to play in the snow before it's gone

I'm Hot

So as the ...

... set in I was cleaning the house and enjoying the fresh coolness of my central air

Temperatures surpassed 100 degrees (Fahrenheit) and barely cooled to 90 as the picturesque NJ night crept in

I was feeling mighty warm but assumed it was a hot flash spell

Until I checked the thermostat. Set for 76 it read 83. Remember now, all temps are Fahrenheit. We don't know nothin' bout Celsius and metrics here in these mighty States of United. We don't need to learn.

In keeping with the basic flow of my clusterfuck of a life my AC unit was dying on Day One of a Heat Wave.

At dawn on Thursday (Day Two) I approached the unit ...

... confirmed that it was a good for nothing lazy bastard and called the AC guy. Guess what? AC guys are busy during a heat wave. Who'd of thunk it!

Thankfully the house is populated with ceiling fans

which really work to circulate air. They are especially helpful when circulating CONDITIONED air. If you chose to use them in plain old regular air during a motherfreaking heat wave you might as well just sit in an ...

Regrettably there is no man with a big hose in my life

So I needed to take tons of showers alone

AC guy arrives Friday evening and after two expensive hours of investigation he declares that we need an electrician. An electrician on Friday night during a heat wave just north of the Jersey Shore. No problem.

Our regular guy had gone fishing. I was going to check Angie's List but the laptop was overheating and surprisingly didn't respond well to a cold drink.

You youngins might not recognize this ...

but with the wizard like skill of reading and calling I was able to find an emergency (aka very expensive) electrician who managed to show up on a Friday night and jiggle a few wires.

So as the heat wave busting storms rolled in ...

old not so faithful began turning and conditioning and as I publish this the temp inside this here palace of mine is a lovely 74. Of course it's fucking 60 outside right now but I choose not to dwell on the ironic.


For all of Hope's fans - she was visiting her cousins and had sleepovers all over NYC in order to remain as cool on the outside as she is on the inside.

I want YOU to be cool

Officially Spring ...

... although it has seemed like spring, even summer, more days than not since Christmas.

click to enlarge

NATURE NOTES