Monday, June 24, 2013

On This Date in 1998


A thunderstorm rumbled through Middleton early this morning. The noise disturbed the boys’ sleep, as well as their feelings of safety and well-being, so they joined Mom and Dad in bed until the storm passed over. Not realizing they were up and about, JoAnna let out a startled scream as they entered the room. That jolted me awake. We lay scrunched together, listening to the storm, not saying too much. After one particularly loud crack of lightning, the clock radio emitted a soft click. It was 5:00 a.m. and we were without power.

JoAnna and I stayed in bed past our usual time. JoAnna wanted to be able to use her hair dryer after taking a shower, and I was just being lazy. I finally got out of bed at quarter to seven, 45 minutes past my usual time, wondering why it was taking so long to restore power. I exercise on the Walkfit for 10 minutes instead of my usual 20. On warm, muggy mornings, I like to have a fan blowing air on me, and that was not an option today.

Just as I started to prepare the boys’ lunches, I heard another click and then the grinding noise of the dehumidifier. It was 7:20, so we were without power for nearly two and a half hours. At the library, I learned that none of the other staff members had lost power. Must have been a small area that was affected.

Our invitations for the Bastille Day party have all been sent out, and a few people have already responded. I hope the weather will be cooler than it’s going to be this weekend. We are in store for some hot and sticky days. At least we’ll be outdoors Friday evening, out of our sticky house. Ron and Julie are hosting a sheepshead party on their new deck. Saturday we’ll probably go to a movie and out to eat to avoid the heat. The boys will continue to make good use of the family pass I bought for the new outdoor pool here. In fact, JoAnna and I should start going there, although I imagine it’ll be a crunch of bodies this weekend.

A lotta baseball so far this summer. Eddie plays twice a week in a calch-pitch league. Andy also plays twice a week in the Little Bucks league. Last weekend, Andy played in his first tournament, which was held in Beaver Dam. His team started out on a good note, winning their first game Saturday by a score of 9-4. Then they ran up against a very tough team from Fond du Lac and lost 13-0. Fond du Lac won its first game by the same score. Sunday Middleton lost to Beaver Dam, a game that was close during the first two innings, but then Middleton fell apart on defense. Had they won, we would have had to stay around fore another three hours until the semi-final games. I know that some parents and even some of the kids weren’t that disappointed to leave. Overall, it was a good experience for the boys. They’ll know what to expect the next time. Andy will play in two more tournaments this summer, one of which is scheduled in Reedsburg on the weekend of the family reunion, unfortunately.

Boxer is starting to get bolder. This morning he jumped onto a kitchen chair and then onto the table to slurp up the milk that Eddie had left behind in his cereal bowl.. Last week I opened a can of tuna fish and heard a long chorus of meows. Boxer was begging for a taste, which I refused to give to him. JoAnna is still taking about getting a second cat, a playmate for our kitty meowsers. Is this really a good idea? I wonder. I don’t have any base of knowledge in this area, but then I do work in a library where we have books on taking care of cats and learning about their behavior.

So I followed up on this idea and learned the following. “The building of friendship between two cats takes much longer than people want ti to. Most people expect the first and second cats to love each other and play together right away. If this actually happens, consider yourself lucky. It’s rare. Cats don’t believe in love at first sight. It can be several months before they get used to each other. Be sure that you don’t do anything to cause jealousy in either cat.” In another section of the book, the author says you probably shouldn’t leave two cats alone during the first two or three weeks they come into contact. Hmm.

Maybe we want to rethink this second cat business or talk to Meaghan’s dad, our vet, and get his spin on this.

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