Comfy on the couch, in dry clothes and fuzzy sox, I sip wine and nibble on some very nice two year old Cheddar and vegetable crackers. The rain patters on the roof... nice. The narration of one of Kathy Reichs' "In Death" series books fills the silence: Ruby dozes on the couch beside me, her head in my lap. Ruby does this thing sometimes when she's relaxed. She breathes in through her nose and out through her mouth making her lips flutter. Sometimes, when she's really relaxed, she leaves the tip of her pink tongue sticking out Cute and goofy.
When I open my eyes, someone's turned out the lights. Shoot, it's getting dark early these days. We've had such summer-like weather, the short evenings seem unnatural. But wait, big oops, the fridge stuff is still in the van. I go to slip on my Birks but no go. Leather doesn't like getting wet and loves to shrink and stiffen up. Gotta get a pair of Crocs. May have to get new Birkenstocks too. Oh well, bare feet will have to do.
Back in Lazy Lady, I assess the potential casualties: four chicken breasts, a liter of milk, two apples, a package of smoked beef and two onions. Well, the apples are no brainers: I pop them into the vegetable bin in the fridge. The beef should be ok: it's still cool and it's "preserved", right?. Into the meat keeper it goes. The milk goes into the freezer for a fast chill. The chicken is destined for the skillet along with the onions. Chicken and onions, (with mushrooms and garlic if ya got 'em) is hard to beat. You can pile it on a crusty bun with mayo or serve it as the main dish meat with veg and/or noodles. It keeps for a few days in the fridge and reheats to perfection.
Now this world is filled with only two kinds of people. Those who love electrical storms and those who view them with fear and loathing. I'm one of the former. As a kid, we had a family cottage at a place called, appropriately, Thunder Beach. It's a small horse-shoe shaped bay on the southern part of Georgian Bay and some rip-snorters blow in off the main bay. I remember snuggling down under the down comforter in a big old cottage bed watching the light show through the window and listening to the angels roll pianos all over Heaven's floor.
Well, there's no down-filled comforters here but I get to enjoy a thunder storm that would do justice to Thunder Beach. And it goes on for hours. RVs are grounded through the electrical pedestal, aren't they? There is one ear-splitting CRACK of thunder that's a bit worrisome but all in all, a good time is had by all.
With full tummies, (Ruby got a good-sized bite of the second chicken and onion sandwich), we nod off to the disappearing rumblings that fade away to the east.
Ginger
