It seemed like old times be outside, enjoying the evening with my neighbors again! Even little Beckham came by for a minute or so on his way back upstairs. His stroller looks like a car and he was darling in it. On my way outside, I met Travis as he was coming down the stairs, carrying a bottle of Diet Coke, a 2-liter sized one, which they had gotten at Winn Dixie when buying a rotisserie chicken. They don't like to have soda in the house, to 'discourage it' (ahem, ahem) and the check-out told them to take it home and just give it to someone else. My name came up! Yay for me!
Maggie was outside, carrying the trash downstairs, and she asked me if I knew her mom was home. I did know Ellen was back from Massachusetts where she was with her friend who recently lost her husband. Maggie said her mom had been at the store and was coming home with fresh strawberries. She asked if I wanted a strawberry daiquiri and of course, I did! So Ellen came out to sit with us and we two ladies enjoyed our adult beverages, mixed up by Maggie, and powerfully so---whew! Yummy, but powerful. Oh, it was grand to have her back to talk to! One of the older ladies who rents on the 2nd floor likes to introduce her daugher every single time we meet. Tonight she asked if Ellen was my daughter. Wow, thanks alot! Either Ellen looks incredibly young or I look incredibly old! She is only a few years younger than I am---oh, that Betty!
Ellen and I talked about some of the old songs from the late 60's that we both knew, including some by Joni Mitchell and Judy Collins. "That's when songs meant something...." as Ellen stated. I sang a couple lines from a few songs and even surprised myself at how I remembered them. Ellen mentioned how the crocuses had been breaking through the ground in MA when she was up there and then they got snowed on. Crocuses made me think of a song titled "Little Green" by Joni where she describes this flower in the spring time. As we parted company in the elevator, I sang a few lines of a Buffy St. Marie song and she said, "That's a name from the past....." Oh, yes, very long ago. I got my first Buffy album from my cousin, David, and his wife, Rochelle, who died about a year ago at this time. This album was in their collection of albums and I was the only one who liked it! So they gave it to me...and I still like it, only on iTunes now.
From my neighbors I got the name of their window washing company and I do hope they don't mind adding me to their list of customers. Several of us need this done so perhaps the company can take care of us all at once. I am sure the washers would appreciate this coordinated effort on our part. We are all being pestered by the pesky 'no-see-'em' flying bugs, crowding onto our screens and windows---ew! Such a mess they make! Some come into the house, and, in the morning, the floors and flat areas are littered with the dead bodies of those that don't live through the night. I almost wonder if I should wait until the bug season is over, this type of bug. At least the love bugs don't make a mess on the windows and in the house!
"Blue songs are like tattoos, you know I've been to sea before. Crown and anchor me, or let me sail away...." Joni Mitchell, from when songs used to mean something....but what? I don't know for sure, but do love singing them!
