Or “Alea iacta est,”, if you are a Latin purist (I know you’re out there somewhere.). Mrs. Grissinger, my Latin teacher in 9th and 10th grades, probably wasn’t up on the latest translation/ third person singular/imperative and all that, or any other notions of what Suetonius said that Caesar said. Anyway, supposedly, this is what Julius Caesar said when he led his troops across the Rubicon (another oft-quoted phrase) on January 10, 49 B.C. ( I was not there; this is only hearsay.)heading for a civil war with the forces of the Roman Senate (which he won). “The die is cast.” Did you know, by the way, that the Romans had two kinds of dice, six-sided ones (like we use today)and four-sided ones (two sides were rounded–odd).
Where was I? Oh, yeah, about the die being cast…the phrase is used to indicate that something is, basically, irrevocable, after all, one cannot unthrow one of those little cubes, once it leaves the hand. At least, I’ve never seen it done. Bet there are plenty of the so-called “high rollers” that have wished it might be so, but it ain’t.
What “die” are we talking about? The Christmas Walk die, of course. My house is going to be on the biennial perambulation this year, as an attempt at comic relief, perhaps; either that, or desperation. Sharp-eyed participants will be able to spot the solar panels on the roof…unless they’re covered by snow–God forbid at that time of year–and maybe even the squirrels who seem to have taken to playing around under the electric boosters when they’re not ravaging the birdfeeders. The porch kitties will be getting an upgrade in their condo accommodations; I pitched the old styrofoam boxes, which were getting pretty ratty-looking (How could a cat stand living in a ratty-looking domicile ? Might as well ask them to shack up in a mouse house.),so they’ll get something new, at any rate. Can’t say how they’re going to cope with bunches of people walking in past their food dishes and ice-free water bowl, then out across the back porch and back out the drive; that’s cat territory. They may join with the inside cats to set up their own vendors’ locations : knitted cat hair sweaters, custom-clawed draperies & furniture, used scratching pads, jingle bell balls that do not roll…the usual. Not a big market for antique hairballs, I’m guessing.
This all takes place during the first two weekend in November, before the big holiday madness gets really rolling, though, one can usually start to spy Christmas doo-dads and/or sale banners featuring candy canes and such somewhere around August–you know, just in time for the Fair and Back-to-School promotions. It’s a wonder that small children are able to grasp the whole notion of calendar and/or holiday at all. Mostly, it’s just “Buy stuff”, “Buy stuff,” “Buy stuff.” And do it NOW. Anyhoo, I just looked it up in the OFA (Old Farmer’s Almanac)–why didn’t I do this sooner? Here’s the doggerel that greeted my eye for the beginning of November : “ Mild and drizzly. Suddenly grisly: raining and sleeting and freezing, before easing. Don’t drop your guard–snowing hard!” And it goes on from there, in the same vein. Won’t have to decorate much outside; it’ll be covered with snow, or mud, looks like. Not much improvement later on in the month either, “You’ll suffer without a muffler! May your feast be feastly : Outside’s beastly!” Something to look forward to, eh?
Anyway, I think that I shall have to–at long last–get someone in to help clean. No. I lied…someone to DO the cleaning. I am terrible at it. I have often said that I need a place with no horizontal surfaces, because I tend to just put things down wherever and layer up from there. You know all of those people who claim to know where everything is in the piles of disarray around them? I am not one of those. I can’t find anything that’s been in here more than five minutes. And the inside cats love to ski–body surf, really–across the mail on the dining room table. When I lived in a three-room apartment, I used to hire Middle School cheerleaders to come in and take down the top layers. Worth every penny. Now I think that I need to find somebody (who’s had all of the necessary shots) who really likes a challenge…and maybe owns a pair of leather gloves…if not hip-waders…to start on this project a little at a time. R & R will be needed in between tackling the various rooms : living room, dining room, bathrooms, kitchen, bedroom, family/TV (Yes, I broke down and got one after some 15 years) room, not to mention two porches and the deck (due to be handled by the Landscaper Dude and his Journeyman). Is that a challenge or what? Don’t even talk to me about decorating until we’ve gotten down a layer or two to see what’s to be decorated.
Three months and counting. Will keep you posted.
