Settling into fall here in Mahoosuc Mills: pumpkins and apple cider, thick socks and polar fleece. I’ve kind of lost interest in watering my mums, which is OK, ‘cause ol’ Mother Nature’s doin’ a pretty good job of that. And when the sun shines, doesn’t everything seem to pop with color? Yellow leaves against blue sky, red leaves scattered on the wet, green grass.
Finally switched over my clothes this week. I always wait too long to do this. I think there’s a part of me that just doesn’t want to surrender to the change of season. So I end up grabbin’ a sweater here, some fall slacks there, from my Tupperware of winter clothes. (I have a couple of big ones I use to store my off-season stuff.) ‘Course, I have to rummage around to find what I’m lookin’ for, so everything gets all jumbled up. And my closet? A total disaster zone, with flip flops and suede shoes, summer t-shirts and a quilted jacket all thrown together. It always ends up being a bigger chore in my mind than what it turns out to be when I actually do it. And it feels great to get things in order!
Seems like this time of year all the little flying and crawly creatures want to come inside. Every time I turn around, there’s another spider in the corner, or ladybugs. Where do they all come from? And wasps! For some reason, we have more than our fair share of these buggers in our bedroom. Don’t know how they’re getting in. I could vacuum ‘em up, sure, but I don’t like killing the critters. So the only alternative’s relocatin’ them outside, and that can be an assignment!
The other day, there was this huge wasp flying around the bedroom. It actually woke me up from my nap, I think. Once I was aware of him, it was impossible to just lie there. I opened a window and told the critter it was time to leave. “Out you go, Mr. Wasp.” Then I closed the bedroom door, and went into the kitchen, and puttered around a bit.
A while later, I come back into the bedroom to see if he’d taken my advice. At first, I thought he had. Then I spotted him on the screen of another window. I put my Diet Coke down on the side table, opened the casement window wide and unhooked the screen. Thought I’d shake the critter off outside the window.
But he was havin’ none of it. The wasp suddenly flew toward me, and I pulled back, hittin’ that can of Diet Coke and knockin’ it onto the floor. Once on the floor, that can proceeded to spin ‘round, shootin’ out a stream of soda in a circle like a lawn sprinkler, before finally comin’ to a stop in a foaming puddle of brown liquid. I admit, I did utter a few words that were not suitable for Scamp’s tender ears. Satisfied with the ruckus he’d created, Mr. Wasp went on his merry way.
“You bugger!”
Then I launched into the task of cleanin’ up the mess. I mean, this stuff was spattered on the curtains, the bedspread, the dust ruffle, Scamp’s bed and the braid rug, as well as the floor. What a pain! My high-minded wasp relocation program ended up costing me ‘bout a half hour, and probably a little of Scamp’s respect. But everything seemed to clean up OK. On the great slidin’ scale of traumas, not a big deal, right?
Well, I’m going to put on my polar fleece jacket, grab some gloves and take the little guy out for a romp in the leaves. He just loves to jump and roll around in a pile of ‘em, just like my sister Irene and me used to when we were kids.
That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!
IDA'S PODCAST: Mr. Wasp and Me
Ida/Susan in your neck of the woods!
Nothin’ going on this week, except catchin’ up on some house cleaning. But next week, I have a bunch of book readings comin’ up. Mark your calendars ‘cause I’ll be in Orono, Ellsworth and Lewiston.
OCTOBER 24:
Reading and Signing, "Finding Your Inner Moose"
1:00 p.m. at the Orono Public Library, 39 Pine St., Orono, ME
http://www.library.orono.org
207-866-5060
OCTOBER 24:
Reading and Signing, "Finding Your Inner Moose"
6:00 p.m. at the Franco-American Centre, Crossland Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME
207-581-3791
OCTOBER 25:
Reading and Signing, "Finding Your Inner Moose"
6:00 p.m. at the Ellsworth Public Library, 20 State St., Ellsworth, ME
207-667-6363
OCTOBER 27:
Reading and Signing, "Finding Your Inner Moose"
1:00 p.m. at the Franco-American Collection, University of Southern Maine's Lewiston-Auburn College, 51 Westminster Street, Lewiston, ME
207-753-6545
I’ll be traveling around quite a bit in the next few months, so check back here each Monday for where I’ll be that week, or click on the “Where’s Ida” link to the left to see my full schedule.
If you’d like me to do a reading at your library, organization or what not, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line:
[email protected]
And if your book group wants to read Finding Your Inner Moose, I’d love to be part of the discussion. Especially if food’s involved!
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