Flashback 1982 or thereabouts

 I just spent three days in the mountains with my older son, his wife and my grandson.

I was there to let them take the odd walk, have time off (or time out) from the little one and in general enjoy not having – or being able – to do my normal activities, tasks, work!

 

There were many bonuses, meals put on the table in front of me without my having to lift a finger, sun every single day (those of you who also live around Lake Leman will understand me very well. I can deal with confinement, I can deal with no social life to speak of, but having to deal with constant gray days – starting to be very wearing!).

 

The main bonus was of course being able to interact with my grandson daily. Sometimes he would come down for an hour or two, sometimes I would go up. When the parents went for a hike one morning I decided that we too should take a walk. Gathered up the recycling and walked the some 500 meters to discard that then go to the small village store. Getting to the recycling bin was fine, but then he wanted to be carried (he is only 20 months) and he is too heavy for me. I caved for about 10 meters then put him back down again. He decided that that was just not on and had a mini temper tantrum.

 

Flashback to when his father was about 4 or 5. We were visiting my parents as was the rest of the family and my brother decided one Saturday afternoon that we should take a walk. Great for the whole family, except my grandson’s father (my son), who had always refused to walk anywhere. My brother assured me that he would, I replied, it’s on your head and sure enough we hadn’t gone a quarter of a mile, but what he had to carry his nephew.

 

Funny that said son has turned out to be a real hiker!

 

Alps in the Valais in Switzerland

 

 

 

“The cats are out…”

 

“But not tended to” was the notice I found on the chalk board this morning.

 

That had me really thinking – so often those poor cats are no longer “tended to”.

When my younger son and I brought them home over 6 years ago they spent the first winter in, were loved, cuddled and catered to by the then-three-sometimes-four people living in the house.

 

Over the years some have moved out, others have moved in and for one glorious period when “my” student was here they got lots of attention. In fact they never had it so good as during confinement since Covid as she willingly let them sit on her lap all day, every day.

Imagine she got her first job, went to the office for like a week then has had to work from home ever since.

 

When I broke my shoulder several years back I had to take to shutting them in the cellar for nights. Now before animal lovers get up in arms, they were in a two-room space, three if you count the laundry room where their food and toilet is; the office has a space heater underneath the wooden desk that they will happily lay on all day and night (even if it doesn’t suit me), they each have a cosy, pillow-lined basket and should they need to stretch they can race in and out of the office, the filing room, the corridor, up and down the steps and into the laundry room as well.  It was simply that they refused to understand that my broken and pinned shoulder could no longer serve as their personal cushion!

 

Since then they are let out in the morning, food supplies, water and the kitty litter changed and if it’s me a treat is given.

 

We have a chalk slate in the entry as younger son still living here and there is the odd need for a message and especially for either of us to write “in” or “out” so that the other knows who’s around.

 

I liked today’s message: I tended to the poor babies!

 

 

They've even been known to share the same basket!

 

A dreaded word

No, not any of those that one might logical have come to mind.

Filing.

I am a very orderly-type person, probably inherited from my mother who had one of those large metal filing cabinets. I have folders from ever since I returned to Europe and Geneva in 1973 (and yes still have “important” – in who’s eyes? – documents from the first cars to the house we sold in 1979).

 

With the advent of Internet I was able to eliminate some of those paper folders, then found myself going back and re-starting some as finding one single document in a computer is like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack. You can use every single search word or combination of words and not find that desperately needed document!

 

So for many things I have gone back to paper files. That however means that one has to actually file the papers – something I am definitely not good at. And it’s getting worse, the longer we are locked down the less time I seem to have for such tasks.

 

Still tax-prep needs to be started and to find anything means filing all those bits and pieces from last year – sigh. Tomorrow might be a good day to start!

 

 

 

A great gift

You know how sometimes you get just what you asked for, that’s already good.

But how many times do you get something that you really don’t want, nor have much use for? Probably more and more often as we age and our tastes run more to non-collection of “things” than to filling up spaces.

But then, occasionally, you receive the perfect gift, one that arrives when least expected and is truly useful. One that reminds you every time you use it of the person who gave it to you, and of course said person is always remembered with fondness.

 

I received a few years ago the most lovely cookie jar – from the family of a little girl that I “adopted” as my grand-daughter and whom I don’t see nearly enough now that we are in the middle of a pandemic, but who still has a large place in my heart.

 

Every year when I bake Christmas cookies, out comes the cookies jar. It sits on the counter for those of us in the house to help ourselves and remains there until the last of the cookies are gone when it’s put away from yet another year. I love it! Thanks L’s!

 

 

 

The unending chocolate box

I love, as in adore, as in my favorite, as in any time I am within a half a mile of this chocolate maker in Geneva I will go: Auer.

Now I discovered Auer long before John Kerry and it remains one of my all time favorites (can’t say for 100% as friends and family over the years have presented me with some of their favorites and it would be very difficult indeed to decide). My family know that there is nothing I love better for a present (and yes, thank you, any excuse is a good one: celebrating “we-finally-made-it-home” for example to purchase me some) than a few Auer chocolates.

This year I got a small-looking box from my younger son and thoroughly enjoyed the first layer, was very glad that there was a second layer at the end of which I thought it was done, but no the box felt heavy still and indeed there was a third layer: bliss is an unexpected layer of chocolates!

 

Finding joy

 

It’s such little things. Throughout the morning a friend and I were WhatsApping back and forth about how dumb the weather predictions are: “snow storm” indeed. My last post to her was around 12:30 when I had actually had perhaps 10 “flakes” hit my windshield on my drive back from town.

Nothing, nothing, nothing, until around 15:30 when it actually did start to snow. So beautiful to watch the mud, the dead leaves and branches, the dirty sidewalks and streets

Disappear.

 

I wrote another friend that we “finally had snow”, the earth was decked in a light mantel of snow. “One must find joy where one can”. Then I realized: it’s true, it doesn’t take much to feel joyful, one only needs to look!

 

 

Grandson friendly occupations

 

I love, as in adore, having my grandson over for the day.

However, at 19 months we stay in the living room, kitchen and entry – on one floor – as I have no stair barriers so will not leave him alone on any other floor, nor go up or down for any task that takes more than 60 seconds!

 

If I need to go up to the bedroom floors it takes three or four times as long as I need to encourage him to climb and come down on his own. (For various reasons I am not able to carry his weight now that he is growing and, besides, he needs to achieve these milestones as did his father and uncle before him).

 

Sometimes I read my papers, play a Sudoku or two and in general relax now that he is capable of playing on his own for several minutes at a time.

 

The other day though I had a brilliant idea: ah, ha, the refrigerator and freezer need de-frosting/cleaning.  Wonderful to not only entertain him, but actually get something in thee house finally cleaned and organized as well. Now I won’t feel guilty if I achieve nothing else.