Hurtful Words

 Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand is a good summer novel.  It's about teen life on Nantucket Island.  A tragic accident ends the life of Penny, a twin.  The story is about how three families deal with this horror.  

Her mother and twin brother, Hobson, reminisce.  Her brother was riding in the passenger seat of the car that crashed.  He saw the look in Penny's face.  Was she trying to kill them all?  In the back seat were Penny's boyfriend, Jake, and friend, Demeter.

If she were intent on suicide, why?  Demeter felt guilty because she said something very upsetting to Penny.  Jake wonders why Penny would kill herself leaving Jake alone.  Hobson had to find out what made Penny suicidal.

To complicate matters, the twins' mother, Zoe, was in a relationship with Penny's boyfriend's father, Jordan.  Also, Demeter, although only 17 was grossly obese and a functioning alcoholic in trying to cope with her weight situation.

How everyone copes and heals is the story.  It's a page turner.  The reader is rooting for the characters.  It's a nice ending.

A Never-ending Meditation

I can't stop meditating on this poem by Christina Rossetti.  It's the end of summer.  It's the end of life.  It's the end.

                   Summer is Ended

To think that this meaningless thing was ever a rose,
Scentless, colourless, this!
Will it ever be thus (who knows?)
Thus with our bless,
If we wait till the close?

Though we care not to wait for the end, there comes the end
Sooner, later, at last,
Which nothing can mar, nothing mend:
An end locked fast,
Bent we cannot re-bend.

Discombobulated

Beaver Pond

It started with my alarm NOT going off.  Maybe I slept through it?  Does the alarm on your iPhone stop ringing after a while? 

Anyway, the radio went on and that woke me up because the radio is automatic.  It goes on at 7.  I was supposed to get up at 6.  I jumped out of bed.  I didn't comb my hair.  I didn't have coffee, never mind breakfast.  I didn't brush my teeth.  I threw on my clothes and flew out the door and drove like a maniac to my daughters.

She was sitting in her car waiting for me to turn into her driveway.  She was late for work.  So now her entire day will be late.  If she is late for her first patient, then each patient after that will be late.  Her day was long and now even longer.

My grandchildren were watching TV.  I brought them over to my house forgetting that I didn't have any breakfast food.  So for breakfast, we had strawberry shortcake.  The kids ate while I got dressed more appropriately, washed up, etc.  But when it was time to leave (I had an appointment to get a hair cut.) I couldn't find my keys.  Again I was rushed!  My appointment!  I grabbed the car's spare key, gathered the kiddos and left.  I couldn't lock the door--no house keys.  Then, as I approached the car I heard its engine.

Oh no!

I left the keys in the car with the engine running.  But it was a hot July day so the car windows were opened. 

The grandchildren were excellent at the hairdresser's.  I was proud of them.

The first place we were going to was Choate Park, in Medway.  We checked it out.  There was no swimming in the pond.  There were a beautiful playground and a new splash pad.

But my grandchildren were too old for the toddlers that were there.  There were no kids their age around.  OK.  I drove us all back to Franklin.  They love Beaver Pond.  It's not crowded and it's clean. 

The kids had a great time.  I couldn't even get them to come out of the water to eat.  I tried to take pictures but my iPhone didn't seem to be working well.  It was frozen.

We spent most of the day there.  The kids made friends.  I lost my keys again but found them.  I lost my iPhone but found it.  I forgot suntan lotion.  While helping to blow up a ball, I tripped and fell--in the water!

Then the ice cream man came.  These same kids who wouldn't come out for lunch somehow managed to run out to the ice cream man!  Meanwhile, I was trying to text their mom to come to get them at the pond, instead of picking them up at my house.  But she wasn't responding.  Was my iPhone working????

I had to get the kids out of the water to go home since I couldn't reach their mother.  And that wasn't easy and took time. Misplaced the iPhone again, but found it.

Finally home.  But their mother was late because her schedule got backed up.  I was anxious for the kids to leave because I had a headache.  I had sand in every orifice in my body.  I was sunburnt. I wanted to shower and put on clean clothes (pajamas if I could) and I desperately needed to take a nap.

And now I am.

Why?

Three questions today: why did it rain and why are people like that, and why does it get to me.

We went to the beach today.  It was a beautiful day.  There were a few white fluffy clouds, but the weather said no rain today.  I put my feet in the water.  It was a little cold.  Hubby would say "It's refreshing."  So I settled in the beach chair with my kindle.

Suddenly, I felt sprayed with water sprinkles.  I looked around and there weren't a kids or any reason for me to feel water. My kindle was getting wet.

What?

There weren't any clouds.

This is what is called a sun shower.  It doesn't last long and at first it felt nice.  But then it got cold.  Nobody moved off the beach.  I took my beach towel and covered myself like a blanket.  And after about five minutes, it stopped.

Then another interruption.  We had picked this spot on the beach because it was an isolated area.  There was no one around.  But when other people come, please tell me why, out of the entire empty beach, they have to sit smack so damn close to us?  They were practically sitting in our laps.

This always happens.  Sometimes we boat out to one of the islands and pick a deserted spot.  Then along comes another boat.  They have the entire island to anchor, but guess where they pick.   Why?

I don't know why, but this annoys me.