I've been included in a Minnesota anthology "Under Purple Skies", now available on Amazon!

My second chapbook, "The Second Book of Pearl: The Cats" is now available as either a paper chapbook or as a downloadable item. See below for the Pay Pal link or click on its cover just to the right of the newest blog post to download to your Kindle, iPad, or Nook. Just $3.99 for inspired tales of gin, gambling addiction and inter-feline betrayal.

My first chapbook, I Was Raised to be A Lert is in its third printing and is available both via the PayPal link below and on smashwords! Order one? Download one? It's all for you, baby!

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

I Look Familiar to Me, or Winter’s Old Already

The world is a different place when the windchill is far below zero. 

Frankly, if you don’t have to go anywhere, just don’t.  The smart money is on staying indoors, anyway. 

Staying vigorously, sternly indoors.

It is Day Two of a brittle four-day siege.    

I responded to Day One by sorting through mounds of domestic paperwork and wearing flannel pants. 

Today?  I am waiting for the plumber – and the lesson that I know is coming regarding cast iron pipes and feminine hygiene products.   I have mentally begun composing the text that I will send to the gals in the downstairs unit and am wondering if it would be inappropriate to do it in rhyme…

It’s Day Two of Four. 

I have time on my hands.  

And, apparently, my hands on my face.

I don’t know when it started, but there I was, around 3:00, 3:15 yesterday afternoon, the sound of the wind coming through the gaps in the windows, just hanging around, feeling my face. 

Absentmindedly, thoughtlessly feeling my face.

Did I say it was far below zero outside? 

Things get weird in Minneapolis about this time of year.

“Like a peach,” I think smugly.  “I feel like my grandma.”

My grandmother’s face, finely pored and as soft as a baby’s bottom: the woman was as kind and as pure of heart as they come.  She was a farm woman, a woman of flower beds and home-cooking, of fresh crisp linens and endless, smiling patience.

“They don’t make them like that anymore,” I think.

But apparently, they do.

Because now that I’ve taken a look, I can see my grandma’s face in the mirror.

Those are her soft cheeks.  Those are the crinkly lines at the corners of her eyes when she smiles. 

Holy moley.  I can see my grandma’s face in the mirror. 

Not all of it.

Not yet.

But there she is, smiling. 

Waiting.




Like I said:  it gets weird in Minneapolis at this time of year.

48 comments:

Indigo Roth said...

Oooh, I like this. Not the "old" bit, but the warmth of memory against tbe cold if winter. And tbe peaches. Always those.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Yup 'cold snap' is a little known disease of the nostalgic spectrum. It can be useful in building character immunity!! Big warm hugs from one who is most definitely looking like her flower gardens and crisp linen granny to one who is - perhaps - looking forward to such. All the very very best m'dear for the coming of a new year. YAM xx

vanilla said...

You have joined the long line of those who you are. But wait. You've become your grandmother at such a tender age. Peachy.

vanilla said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Shelly said...

I'd love to hear your rhymes, see your grandma's face, and know that you are staying warm.

Connie said...

Sending warm, fuzzy peach thoughts to you and to your grandma in you. Grandmas are wonderful, at least mine were. Having your Grandma looking back at you in the mirror seems like a very good thing. :-)

Happy New Year, Pearl!

Sioux Roslawski said...

Plumbing problems over the holiday.

Good times...

Anonymous said...

You don't need to be in Minneapolis to end up seeing your grannie in the mirror.....first it's your mother that sneaks up on you in the glass..then your grandmother.
Cold over there huh?

Jono said...

Is your face fuzzy, too? I sometimes see my father when I look in the mirror. It's a bit spooky. I think the wind peeled a layer off of my face this morning coming back from the barn. Damn, it's cold!

joeh said...

I'll bet Grandma also had a kick ass sense of humor as well.

Happy New Year!

Watson said...

What Delores said! I'm sitting here with above freezing temps...seeing my mother and grandmother with a little of my father thrown in for good measure - right there in the mirror. But - only the good parts in me! :-)

Happy New Year Pearl and everyone. May peace and joy fill your hearts, and our world.

jenny_o said...

I'm with Shelly - we NEED to see those rhymes!

I think it's sweet and wonderful that you're starting to see your Grandma in you. Really, who would you rather see?

Bill Lisleman said...

If you are getting Grandma's face then be sure to hold on to the smile.
Happy New Year

The Geezers said...

This weather does indeed play with your head, doesn't it? A few blocks walking to the bus had me shivering uncontrollably—and I was wearing three layers below, four above, plus thinsulate gloves, earmuffs, stocking hat, scarf.

I knew how bad is was getting when I looked in the mirror and saw Garrison Keillor.

Geo. said...

Magical post, Pearl.

Anonymous said...

I noticed about a year ago that I have my mother's hands. Yikes!
This weather--blast it!

Launna said...

I have been thinking the same thing... I have been seeing my mothers face more and more, time speeds by so quickly :)

Joanne Noragon said...

Long ago I was mistaken for my aunt, who was a good thirty years older than me. I wondered if she aged well, I aged poorly, or if it was like the gas needle and the speedometer crossing.

Anonymous said...

I'm 79 & look ABSOLUTELY nothing like my grandmother!! My grandfather, yes, but not my grandmother!!

Silliyak said...

Seeing my father's face in the mirror is one of the reasons for my beard. (see blog of you haven't already) BTW happy holidays.

Juli said...

I miss my grandmother everyday, so there is comfort in knowing that I look a bit like her.

Not in getting getting her distinct chin though...

:)

Elephant's Child said...

What a lovely thing to discover in the mirror and under your fingers. It sounds like the New Year is being kind to you already.

River said...

You have gaps around your windows? You need some nice heavy drapes there, maybe a little gap-filler too, from the hardware store.
It's nice to see your Grandma looking back at you from the mirror, especially since she was such a lovely person.

the walking man said...

You know, my dear pearl, every time you have that snap the digits off cold and the blood freezes before it leaks out, you seem to always be hell bent on sending it this way...I know Blame the Canadians. Did i tell you my nephew just moved to Minneapolis? some frozen chick met him in California, married him and told him the climate was just like Florida in June.

So back to the neighbors downstairs---feminine paper products do not belong in any pipe.

Now would you please send some warmth this way? PLEASE put a wall up along the Canadian Border, get Homeland Security to pay for it.

Be Well Pearl, writer of humor.

raydenzel1 said...

Aww, happy new year Pearl...brrr

Douglas said...

The only worthwhile advice to come out of Homeland Security: Duct tape for those windows. It was even cold down here in Paradise, why I had to bundle up just to brave the 4 MPH wind and under 70 temps to put the trash can out yesterday. Brutal!

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

What you see in the mirror are the things you loved about your grandma, Pearl. That sounds like a good thing.

sage said...

Nice writing Pearl. I hear it is cold up there as I walk around on Carolina Beach with a light jacket on...

Anonymous said...

I want to see those rhymes, too. Happy New Year, Pearl!

Leenie said...

The sub-zero siege and weeks without sunshine are reasons the Norse are known for their morose and dismal outlook and the people of the tropics are know for hakuna matata. The only way to outlast and outwit arctic weather is to keep that sense of humor and tap into your grandma grit. The fairest of them all are not all physically stunning but they know how to laugh. Thanks.

Mandy_Fish said...

This is beautiful.

Well, maybe not the feminine hygiene products part. But the rest. I love it.

Notes From ABroad said...

I bet your grandma was a beauty.

It is not as cold here as it is there but the result is the same. I am fumbling around an empty silent house looking for things to keep me busy.
I am not having fun.

Now I am going to go look in the mirror ..

Rose L said...

I have seen my mother in the mirror and wondered how she got here. Not fair.

HermanTurnip said...

Just a quick note to wish you a Happy New Year, my friend! Hope you didn't party too hard last night, and that Liza and Dolly didn't have to hide your car keys ;-)

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

Here down under it is a day for staying indoors as well not because of the cold but because it is stinking bloody hot outside and a body might melt in the heat........

Unknown said...

Funny what you see in the mirror. Sometimes I see my deceased older sister; sometimes I see my Aunt Ida. Where did those two come from?

Kavi said...

Heres to a happy new year Pearl! may this be best one yet!

Anonymous said...

Hey there Walking Man....that last ice storm we had came from YOUR direction lol.

Linda O'Connell said...

Just wait until you see your first wild chin hair; you'll really think "Grandma." Happy New year. Your blog posts are the start of my days.

Dawn@Lighten Up! said...

Indoors. I, too, am vigorously, sternly, resolutely indoors, Pearl. I'll see you April 1.

savannah said...

happy new year, sugar! stay warm!! xoxoxo

maurcheen said...

Beautiful.

I sometimes see my Nana's face in the mirror. Not a good look on a bald tattooed wedding singer!

Happy New Year my friend. :¬)

xxx

Busy Bee Suz said...

What a compliment to both you and your Grandmother. Happy new year...stay warm!!!

Ian Lidster said...

Much too cold for me, dear friend. You should move to the coast.
Love and wishes to you for 2014

Jocelyn said...

Awwwww.

No really.

Plus, I share your "so much winter already" kind of crazy, and doesn't it make life so much better? Something about the slow unhinging of the mind is lovely.

Tonight, I wore a scarf tied around my face as I made dinner and worked on the computer. Yes, it started out because my nose was so damn cold, but then I realized it just felt comforting.

Suldog said...

I know the feeling. I do not see my Grandma (thank goodness, not that she wasn't a good-looking woman) but My Dad looks back at me every now and then. Sometimes it is pleasant, but mostly it is discomfort I feel. I have my beard to hide some of it. I don't know what you're going to do.

Pat Tillett said...

I'd say that was a nice tribute to your grandma.

Diane Stringam Tolley said...

It's official. I love your Gramma. And you, too!