Candy Bars, Spiders, and Snakes

Milky Way has put out a candy bar that is just caramel covered with chocolate, I went to CVS and got one yesterday... Oh My God it's delicious... this morning's conversation began with that sentence... Kitty loves chocolate covered caramel and a friend had told her about the new Milky Way... she said that about five years ago she had found chocolate covered caramel "nuggets" in a bag made by the same company that makes the new Milky Way... she bought a bag, went back and bought another... and then... couldn't find them any more... sad... but now happy because her favorite candy combination has resurfaced...

In the middle of the candy conversation a granddaddy longlegs appeared near Kitty's front door and as she shooed it out (she doesn't kill spiders any more, but she doesn't like them either) we discussed the fear of spiders... she has trepidations but no real fear, she doesn't mind shooing them away, but doesn't want to touch them...

I imparted the story of my ex-brother-in-law, who has an irrational fear of granddaddies stemming from a time when he was just a toddler and woke up to find one of the long-legged critters sitting on his little face... I must admit every chance we got we would scare Mark with granddaddies... it seemed so funny to us that something so harmless could strike such fear into a now grown man! Kitty didn't think my story was so funny... she had the same sort of thing happen to her when she was five years old... bigger boys chasing her with spiders and into a room where she couldn't escape... frightening for a child I suppose...

Which led to my fear of snakes... much more rational to my way of thinking, but that's how fears are I guess... perfectly sensible to the person with the fear, not so valid to those who don't suffer from the same phobia...

My Mama and my Aunt Marcia were dreadfully afraid of snakes and I remember a time when they tried to shoot a black snake with my Papaw's shotgun... Mama tried to kill it with a hoe first, but couldn't so Marcia pulled out the shotgun... she was trembling and crying so hard it's a wonder she could even hold the gun... she finally steadied herself enough to shoot the "monster." Daddy always just took black snakes to the barn... they killed rats and mice, to him they were useful, to Mama and Marcia, they were the enemy!

I also added the story of the time, when my parents and my aunt and uncle ran a small general store in the late 60s... we had animal feed sacks in the back store room and my uncle and I found a green snake and made plans to terrorize as many people as we could (I was 9 or 10 years old at the time and found this diabolical plan super fun!)... deciding to start with the milk delivery man... his name was Hazel (I'm not making this up) and he was a good sport, loads of fun... while he was in the store delivering the milk, we were sneaking to the back door of the Biltmore Dairy truck he drove... opened it up and placed the snake inside then nonchalantly (of course) making our way back into the store to find a front row seat to the show that was about to begin...

Hazel went around to the back of the milk truck to load up the crates... and yelled and slammed the door... our laughter was cut short pretty soon... Hazel had cut the head off of the poor reptile so our fun ended abruptly... it was fun while it lasted!

I think I'll go have a candy bar...

Cookie Christmas

Kitty and I are so different it's amazing we have remained such close friends all these years. She is the "earth mother" type, an "old hippie," a tree hugger, more a worshipper of the earth than a worshipper of God. She wears gathered skirts, flowing blouses, long, straight, parted in the middle hair, and no make-up. I am a bit more of a capitalist, God-fearing, rather conservative in my politics and my dress, and I dearly love make-up and all things girly.

There is one thing we've both struggled with all our adult lives, however... money! I recently remarried and  also have a better-paying job than I once had, so my financial stresses have been reduced by half at least (my precious new husband and I share expenses 50/50)... Kitty is divorced, has a job as a librarian, part time, and lives alone... I've been there too... there wasn't much money, and Christmas added to the financial burden every year.

Recently Kitty had to have two trees removed from her yard, a decision she agonized over, partly because of her distaste for "killing" anything in nature, or disturbing the natural order of her environment, and partly because, as a woman alone and with no chainsaw wielding friends or family, she had to hire it done, and it was costly.

She had to decide to put groceries, gas, and other necessities of life on her ever-growing credit card balance to save the money to have the now dead and dangerously hovering over her house, trees removed. But the deed is done now and she can sleep nights without fear of waking to tree branches through her roof.

But... she will have to pay off the credit card debt she has acquired... now is the time she begins foraging here and there in specialty shops, yard sales, and thrift stores for Christmas gifts for her two sons, her daughter-in-law, her Dad, step-mom, and various and sundry friends and family. They may have to be willing to accept just a bit less than they are used to when the Holiday Season rolls around... as she puts it... it's gonna be a "Cookie Christmas this year!"

What do you know about fennel?

Well, it tastes like licorice... what do you want to know?

I heard it's good for the digestive system and my DH is having problems with that... his stomach hurts really bad all the time. After that bout he had last winter with diverticulitis, he's been in almost constant pain. We can't really figure out exactly what's triggering it, so I'm trying to read up on it and find out home remedy type things I can do to help. My guess is that he's got irritable bowel syndrome or something like it.

I was reading last night that  fennel was helpful with bloating and pain. You make a tea out of the fennel seeds or roast them and sprinkle on salads and stuff and it helps with the pain. He said he'd give it a try but he might not like the taste, we might have to add a lot of lemon or something. But then citrus can sometimes be a trigger so that might not be a good idea. I also read that yogurt has all kinds of enzymes that aids digestion. Maybe we can sprinkle fennel seeds in our yogurt! Ha!

I also read that stress and several other things make it worse... he's got to learn to de-stress, that's his main thing, he gets so upset by so many things and gets down easy since he had surgery last fall.

Went to the health food store this morning and bought some fennel tea, among some other teas (a couple for me, actually), a detoxifying tea, a mid-life tea and the fennel tea...

Hope it helps...

Well, it tastes like licorice so if he likes licorice maybe he'll drink it!

Thunder and Lightning

My new car has voice activated blue tooth built in... my morning phone call to Kitty begins with the push of a button on my steering wheel and the command "Call Kitty"... the phone replies "calling Kitty... on mobile... say yes to continue"

"Hello"... Good morning! Time to rise and shine! Did you get thunder and lightning last night like we did? Man it was wild!

We love thunderstorms, the loudness, the rain, the wonder of it all...
When I was a little girl, my papaw would sit out on the porch where there was a tin roof, and listen to the rain and the storms and watch the lightning flash... sometimes I would sit with him and listen too... I loved it...
My Mama always loved storms too... and I grew up loving them... so did Kitty... we just don't understand the fear some people have of them... we love the power and the fireworks!

Neither of us were allowed to take baths or wash dishes during thunderstorm... maybe this added to our love for them...

Kitty said one time her Mom was in the bathroom during a storm and lightning ran through the water pipes and out the shower head ... hitting her Mom on the leg, leaving the mark of the shower head on her leg... she was never allowed to be near water during a storm...

I remembered once going innertubing with friends and family and it looked like a storm might be approaching... my then husband wouldn't let the kids go, loaded them back into the car and told the rest of us if we were crazy enough to go on, he would meet us at the bottom and he would have the kids with him... halfway down... a bolt of lightning hit the surface of the water (lightly I guess, because it wasn't life threatening or anything) and we all got a bit of a jolt... causing us to make the snap decision to get out of the water and go innertubing another day!

My Friend Kitty

Kitty and I met years ago when she needed a babysitter for her youngest son, who was four years old. My youngest son was the same age, I was a stay-at-home mom and agreed to provide childcare for her son... those two little boys were always into something, one adventure after another!

My most memorable memory of Caleb (my son) and Joddy (Kitty's son) was the time they decided it was a good idea to throw rocks at an old aquarium that had been set behind our shed to air out (the fish had died and there were no immediate plans to refill it)... those boys destroyed the aquarium... a shard of glass flew up and sliced my Caleb's knuckle, requiring a trip to the doctor and seven stitches...

Kitty and I have remained friends ever since... my son is now a married man and hers is finishing up his college career...

We lost touch off and on through the years... she went through a difficult divorce, moved away, then came back to town when her mother needed care... I found her once again just a few years ago just after her mother had passed away... we won't lose touch again...

I've moved away now, but I call her every morning, waking her up (she calls me her alarm clock!) as I drive my 15 minute drive to work... we talk about everything... religion, politics, love and loss, in that 15 minute drive each day...

There have been times when I've talked to her hours on end, at 2 a.m., 8 a.m., 9 p.m.... it has never mattered... whenever I need her, she answers her phone and listens

I try to do the same for her...

In this blog I will impart the wisdoms Kitty and I have concluded in our morning talks...