The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Just a week ago, I was on the tennis court in a short skirt and tank top; now, I’m making an appointment to have my tires changed to my snow tires. I blinked and the weather changed, and I mean dramatically! Not a simple 5-6 degrees, but below freezing and even a prediction of snow this Saturday.

I think mother nature is out for revenge. I once mentioned that I was a little disappointed in my first autumn here because I just expected more of an explosion of color, so now she’s just decided out of spite that she will skip autumn and just go right into winter.

This abrupt change is not exactly timed well for me. Daniel flew off to Los Angeles for about two weeks to consult and assist a former student and friend in reviving a restaurant in trouble. I just went through the adjustment of living with someone again, after ten years by myself, now I am back readjusting to being alone, albeit only for two weeks. I am now stuck trying to figure out how to keep my feet warm in bed since the cold weather has struck. No matter how hard I try, Mugsy just wants to be in the middle of the bed, not at the foot.

However, the good news is that I have complete ownership of the TV remote control, and I can listen to whatever music I like. Sadly, I do miss his cooking. I’m back to eating yogurt, eggs (at least they are fresh from the farm), and crackers and cheese. Even with all the cheese and eggs, my cholesterol count has probably dropped in half, and he’s only been gone three days. He has cooked with more butter since he arrived in March than I probably used in the past five years. Butter does make everything better, except for my arteries. Now I just have to restrain myself from eating all the Halloween candy before one trick or treater is banging on the door.

It has now fallen on me alone to finish dismantling the garden. I must admit I felt great pleasure when I yanked out and trashed two zucchini plants. I was pulling out tomato plants and kind of cursing them for having so many flowers, branches, and leaves, yet, so few tomatoes. Then I turned around and noticed Mugsy chomping away. When I pulled the plants out, there were tons of green tomatoes on the ground with teeth marks. Evidently, Mugsy has been raiding the plants, spitting out the green ones, but enjoying the ripe ones. (Note to self: fence in the tomatoes next year).

I know the first time I have to buy a head of lettuce, celery, onions, carrots, or a cucumber from the grocery store, it will be heartbreaking. Instead of picking lettuce, I am inured to raking leaves, yanking out dead plants, coaxing Mugsy to go outside in the rain, and wearing my thermal underwear, and trying not to hit a deer on the highway.

Before Daniel took off for Los Angeles, he made one last kitchen fix, a dimmer switch. When we bought the light fixtures, we weren’t sure they would be bright enough. They were. Not only were they bright enough, but we could rent out the space to a surgical center. Now with the kitchen complete and winter closing in, I am ready to forfeit the remote to Daniel and dine on some good homemade soups and stews, even if I have to buy the vegetables instead of plucking them out of my garden. And the good news is that those winter foods do not include zucchini!