Cactus

I thought this word was a repeat since I wrote about cactus yesterday. But yesterday's word was desert!

NOW what do I write about "cactus?"

I remember someone being disappointed when I pointed out that the little cactus in a pot, that a friend had brought them from a recent trip, wasn't real at all. The main cactus part was real, but all the little flowers on it were glued on.

Sometimes I should probably be less observant.

Desert

I knew this would be today's word!

I ate cactus once. It was on the menu and I'd never tried cactus and it sounded interesting, so I ordered it. I thought it tasted like string beans, but the texture is different. I want to say it's rubbery, but it's not exactly. The surface, friction-wise, seemed rubbery, but the consistency of the whole vegetable wasn't rubbery or chewy. It was soft, like a cooked vegetable.

Dessert

There's a lot of leftovers. Too many. I'm pretty sure I've gained weight in the past weeks. I get tired, run down, and I reach for anything that I think will give energy. Usually that's protein (which also makes me gain if I eat too much), and next is sugar and next is fruit. In my own home, the only options are usually fruit and protein for quick energy fixes, and I rarely have meat in the house so I don't usually eat too much of it (I eat a lot of meat if it's around), plus I don't run myself down as much. But when I'm not at home, I eat a lot just to stay upright! I'll probably have a cupcake for breakfast...

Deaf

I had a deaf friend who used to wear a "I'm not deaf, I'm ignoring you" button :)

I took one or two years of American Sign Language in college and taught myself from books before that. I'm ok on paper but not as good in practice. As with most people and learned languages, I speak it better than I understand it. And I don't speak it that well.

I wouldn't mind taking more ASL classes someday, but I think what I'd really need is to go someplace like Gallaudet, and I don't think I'm interested enough to be that immersed in it. If a family member were deaf, I absolutely would. I've always loved ASL. I think it's a beautiful language.

Clamp

Wood Shop

I remember when we made wooden cars. Cutting them to the shape we wanted. Drilling the holes for the dowels in the car and the wheels. Using the wood burning tool to decorate them, and then finishing them off with shellac. And then, the final test for class. - Racing them to see who won.

Fireplace

I think of Christmas Stockings of course!

The rule in our house was that after 6am, we could go downstairs and open our Christmas Stockings on our own, and that we were allowed to play with those toys until our parents woke up. - That was part of the deal. Let the parents keep sleeping!

I remember one year my stocking looked empty from a distance and I was so sad. Had I really been that bad? Had my parents really done that to me? When I took the stocking down I saw it actually was packed with gifts. It had just looked flat (not bulky) so I hadn't been able to tell until I felt it.

I still remember that feeling. Believing my parents had acted that way and  deliberately left me an empty stocking. I didn't put it past them. And yet, they hadn't, and I had gifts that year after all.

Hurry

That's what I feel like now. - Do I have enough time for a OneWord post? Internet time is so rushed at the moment. People could walk in at any time and then I'd have to drop everything I'm doing, stop in the middle, and see to them. Otherwise I'd have prying eyes "What are you doing? What are you writing? One word? But that looked like more than one word? So what is it then? Explain it to me? Why did you close the computer? Why did you put it away? You can finish. I don't mind. But what was it exactly? I don't understand? Is it about me?"

It is sometimes.

Uh oh.... footsteps!

View

It would be nice to have one ;)

I know someone who has an amazing view. When I visit, it takes my breath away every morning. The thought of waking to beauty like that every single day... it's very appealing. If only it weren't so darned hot where she lives.

Sneaky

My friends and I used to play "Spy." Playing "Spy" consisted of making it around the perimeter of our block via the back yards of everyone's houses. Which was not cool where we lived! We'd sneak behind bushes and trees and flowers and gardens... we weren't trying to see or steal anything. We wanted to see if we could get through all the backyards without anyone seeing us!

I was always so afraid of getting caught by someone. I don't think we ever were. Because, really, if you're not actually IN your back yard, and you're not watching pets or kids back there, and you don't have a breathtaking view, and you're not on a hit list of some kind... who looks back there?

Platinum

Why do they keep changing the color of my credit cards? Like I care? Keep it the same darned color and add whatever benefits you want, but stop trying to impress me by changing its color. No one knows what the colors mean anymore anyway!

Remember when a "Gold Card" was a big deal? Now when someone pulls out a gray card it could be gray or silver or platinum or... titanium! Heck you could pull out a green card and it could be KRYPTONITE! Gold is so yesterday.

Centerpiece

I'm thinking of events where centerpieces exist... bar/bat mitzvahs... award ceremonies... hotels...

I remember making "memory candles" at bar/bat mitzvahs. It was the cool "in" thing to do. Grab a glass of water from the table with a nice stem, and put in mementos from the event. Things like the birthday boy/girl's name tag from the table, and maybe a flower from the centerpiece. Sometimes bits of food but ideally not! Non perishables if possible. Then you were supposed to take a candle from the table (there were always candles on the table!) and drip wax all along the surface of the water and up the edges of the glass to seal everything in. Like a time capsule.

I doubt any "memory candles" ever left a restaurant! They were probably all thrown away. I'm kind of curious now about exactly how futile those attempts were, and how long it'd take for that wax seal to start to ooze? Hours I'd think. But who knows? I never had a bat mitzvah so I was never presented with one of those "teenage works of art" ;) I probably would have tried to keep it!

Slouch

"We're slouching again... Straighten up... eyes ahead... look like all the other human beings! Great... Now we're teetering. From side to side, like some old person. We should have brought a cart."

"We didn't need a cart. It would have been empty."

"Doesn't matter, it would have given him more balance. At the very least the slouching might have looked like he was making an effort to push the darned thing."

"If it was empty?"

"Whose idea was it to go outside today anyway?"

"Somebody said they wanted pizza!"

"Look..."

"What?"

"We're slouching again."

Anywhere

Anywhere but here.

She didn't know where she was going, only that she had to go. She knew it was unlikely any of them would come back, but they could. If they did, she rationalized, she could lock the door. Refuse to let anyone in. They'd go away in time. But they'd still know she was there. They might come back another time. Wait for her outside, or drive down her street, or park across the street, looking through her windows to see if she was home. They might wait in the lobby, bother her neighbors. They might even enlist others to drive by on their behalf.

She would have to go.

"Stay" she'd thought to herself. "Stay and calm down. You'll be happier in the morning when you're still in your home instead of who knows where." This is what she'd told herself as she'd locked the doors, turned off the lights, and tried to get some sleep. But sleep hadn't come, and an hour later, she was packing. The fastest panicked packing she'd ever done. What do you pack when you don't know where you're going? Money, clothes, pajamas, laptop, dvds (for distraction), papers, bills, PDA, chargers for everything.... a backup drive of important files... Nothing abnormal. Only items that would make her unmemorable. That would make her blend in with a crowd. Sweats, caps, subdued colors. Everything had to fit in one suitcase. One case that she could roll.

"You should stay" a voice inside her still said, but the panic hadn't subsided. She'd given it a chance. She'd tried to take a nap, but that hadn't worked. So now it was time for plan B. Now it was time to run.