Saturday morning was beautiful. Sunday morning was plain ugly. Well, maybe not ugly if you enjoy gusty winds and hard rain. A few minutes ago, I dumped 12 millimeters of Sunday rainwater out of the gauge. That's half an inch. In contrast, here's what I saw out the back gate Saturday morning as the dog and I went out for our walk.
But before giving my weekend weather summary, let me report, as Walt did yesterday, that our late neighbors' daughter and her family had a bonfire on Saturday, out in their front yard. The neighbor who most recently lived in the house, two doors down from ours, passed away suddenly last October. His wife had died, suddenly as well, two or three years earlier. Both had cancer. Because the tree limbs are bare in winter, we had this view of the activity over there — the daughter's firetruck-red Peugeot, and hot red flames — on Saturday.
Our late neighbors had just one child, a daughter who's about 45 years old, I'd guess. All day Saturday, she and her husband and children hauled tables, chairs, beds, bed linens, and lord knows what out of the house where her parents lived, and burned it all in plain view, not far from the road. And there's more: Walt walked by there yesterday morning (in the rain) and said the family had left a big pile of furniture out in the yard, presumably to be burned at some later date. It's all been ruined by yesterday's heavy rain at this point, anyway.
Before all that excitement and mystery — I wonder if the mayor gave the family permission to burn everything like that, and why they did things in such a spectacular and spooky way — Tasha and I had taken a good long walk around the vineyard. There was sun. There were clouds. And there was a pretty rainbow.
For a change, it was nice to see bright sun early in the morning. The days are definitely getting longer now, and we're emerging from the darkness. The weather is supposed to be spring-like by the end of this week.
Even though the rain blew by in sheets in the morning, I had a sunny walk in the late afternoon with Tasha. Heavy squalls moved through again in the evening, but I was back inside by then. And dry.
was the furniture really falling apart (could you tell) ..couldnt they have donated it anywhere?
ReplyDeleteI can't get over that fire. Someone could have used some of that furniture.
ReplyDeleteAny idea if this could have been a "revenge" burning? It just seems very strange.
ReplyDeleteNot sure about revenge. I have the impression that the father who died and his daughter didn't get along very well, but that's based only on an off-hand comment by another neighbor. I wonder about superstition. Is it the cancer that both the parents succumbed to that made the daughter want to dispose of everything in the house so irrevocably? We were invited over there when both parents were still living, and the house, which we were shown around in, was clean, neat, and pleasant. It is strange that the daughter hasn't called on one of the local second-hand shops, many of which offer services to come clean out houses like this one and then sell everything at good prices. So many people are in need...
ReplyDeletePretty sad, no matter what the reason.
ReplyDeleteIf you ever decide to write a novel, it's a tale you could use as the first scene.
I'm not organized or disciplined enough to write a novel or even a short story! Thanks for telling me the other day about your having my photo in a frame in your house. If you've had it for 20 years or so, I must have given you a copy of it way back then. Can you believe it's been 21 years since we were let go by Apple/Claris, and 27 years since we went to work there? Wow.
DeleteYou're organized and disciplined enough to do anything you want. Evidence? This long-lived and varied blog.
DeleteI dimly recall seeing your photos after your trip and asking for that one.
A lot has happened in 21 years!
I've been enjoying your blog for the past couple years. My daughter and her husband have booked a spur of the moment trip to Paris for 5 days coming up in a couple weeks. Do you have any must see suggestions for their itinerary?
ReplyDeleteOh gosh. There is so much to do that the five days will fly by. Is this a first trip to Paris for them? I think they should spend a lot of time walking around neighborhoods if the weather cooperates and they are physically able. Don't spend too much time riding the metro, but take it a time or two to see what it's like. Ride a bus. Get a museum pass and go to the Louvre and the Orsay museum. Are they renting an apartment or staying in a hotel?
DeleteI wonder about superstition, too. Remember how people were so afraid of Aids patients early on--there may still be that kind of fear around cancer.
ReplyDeleteBut the brocante-er in me mourns wholesale destruction of (I now imagine as) possibly nice, or at least useful furniture. As Evelyn said, it could have helped someone.
If Walt and I needed any more furniture, I would be heartsick about seeing all D. and A.'s stuff going up in smoke. It looked at least as nice as the stuff we have. I didn't grow up in a well-to-do family, so I appreciate the value of possessions, and know that many people are in great need.
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