At home Sunday

There are places I need to go and things I need to get, but I just can't get into my car and drive anywhere.  I expended what little energy I have in sweeping some of the leaves that blow into my driveway and settle by the trash cans.

When I contacted friends in Ireland I found out that my former neighbor died of motor neuron disease.  (There are a number of forms of the disease, but Lou Gehrig's would be the one most familiar.)  She was about 10 years younger than I am, but probably worked herself into an early death.  She prided herself on the fact that you could eat off the floor, wouldn't cook a meal without cleaning her stove (called a "cooker" in Ireland), and that included cleaning the back of the cooker as well.  (Whoever cleans the back of their stove, or under it for that matter.)

She was a friendly and extremely funny woman, always the life of the party.  I found an Irish online obituary source and searched until I found her - of interest is the fact that she was "in repose at her home from ** to ** in the afternoon, when her body was removed to the local church where it would stay overnight, and then buried the next day in the church graveyard next door.

I'm sure some readers will remember the days when it was common to visit the dead at their homes, where they rested in the parlor which wasn't used often, the exception being when the priest or minister visited.  I write about Irish funerals in my blog on Ireland - and the whole process is much different than it is here.  First thing is that they normally don't embalm the dead, so the dead never look "like they are sleeping".  You realize what a shell the body is when the life spirit has departed.

I don't mean to get on a subject that many would consider morbid, but I was truly sorry to hear that Betty was gone from this world.  She always worried that I didn't eat enough, and I should have gained 100 pounds from all the food she brought me.

I didn't get up at my normal time this morning, so I didn't eat breakfast until an hour later than usual.  Now I'm an hour late for lunch! 

This is a day of brilliant sunshine and is very warm even though the thermometer only says 68 degrees.  I feel sort of guilty for not being outdoors.  Not too guilty though. 

I'm adding this note a couple of hours after publishing.  I got an email saying that there was no "Comment" option on today's blog.  I can't see any way to comment on my blog, and I have no way of knowing what is the problem.  You can always email me:  mgypsy97 at aol dot com.