Fraidy Cat

Sometimes a nice cup of tea and a phone call can make all the difference. And sometimes it takes more. So here's my fraidy cat story. First of all, I'm a very level headed person, most of the time. I pride myself on my use of logic and intuition to understand most situations. That being said, there was one time I lost my cool.

It was Sunday night and I was alone. I'd suffered through freezing rain with a touch of snow and cold weather. I got the call that school was cancelled for Monday. I decided to stay up a little later and kept watching Midsomer Murders. It was a good one about bullies who killed a boy and then he came back and started killing them 20 years later. It was creepy! And they killed him by drowning him. It was atrocious as far as I was concerned. So let's just say I really got involved in it. I even yelled at Barnaby to watch out before he was tied up and gagged with duct tape.

This episode was over about 10:30 and I turned off the television. I started checking email and playing online. Then I heard a bang from the ceiling. I thought, "What the heck?" I noticed the heater was running; so that wasn't broken. So I shrugged it off... until a couple minutes later it banged again in another part of the ceiling. Now this is strange. So I closed up my laptop and stood up waiting to see if it would happen again. And it did. Now I'm really concerned.

Situations started going through my mind. Could there be an animal in the attic? Did something break up there? Oh my gosh, my neighbor had told me a story about a drugged up guy on someone's roof in town. Did I have someone on the roof?

I opened my front door. Because of the icy roads, there was no traffic out there. And I was too scared to go out on the porch. So I listened from the doorway. It banged inside, but I didn't hear it from the outside. Now I was really freaked out. I shoved my slipper socked feet into some snow boots, snatched a coat from the closet, found my flashlight and headed out back. My patio was a slippery mess, so as soon as I could, I gingerly stepped onto the grass. I was in no mood to try out my Nancy Kerrigan moves. I got out as far as I dared into the dark night and directed my flashlight toward the roof. Back and forth I waved the visible waves of light, but I couldn't find a thing on the roof except my satellite dish.

So I went back inside and heard the banging some more. It was about 10:40 and I hoped my mom was still up because I picked up the phone and called her. I told her about the scary show and the noises in the ceiling. She suggested I might not want to watch scary shows in the dark. Thanks Mom! But what about my banging roof? I'll admit she calmed me down. I would have heard more noises if it was a person. So what if there's an animal up there. It's not coming down to get me.

Once I got off the phone I still heard the bangs. I went back to my computer and started a search about it. This article made me feel a little better. What really helped was when my oldest and best friend posted the following.

I saw this and realized I wasn't the only one dealing with these noises. It must have been happening all over the place. What a relief! I heard the bangs a few more times, but it didn't bother me. I don't know if my friend knew how much her post meant to be, but hopefully she knows now. Sometimes you just need to know there's someone else going through the same situation to make you feel like you can handle it. I love you, Mom for doing what you do best, trying to make me feel better. But there's nothing like knowing someone else has your same problem to fix you right up. It doesn't always work, but in this case it did. Best of all, I slept like a baby that night; without a care in the world.

What You Can Learn About the English From Television

 Over the course of my life I've watched a few English television shows. Mostly I can thank PBS for that. I've seen Absolutely Fabulous; I really don't understand what they are trying to portray in that show. It must be way over my head or something. I used to watch Are You Being Served and Keeping Up Appearances. These were shows to which I could relate. If you aren't familiar with these shows, Are You Being Served takes place at a department store and revolves around the workers. Keeping Up Appearances has a female main character who definitely wishes to be someone that she isn't. She pronounces her name "Bucket" like the word "bouquet". You know it's a good episode if she gets her come uppings by the end.

My latest English show comes from Netflix. I love how I can work my way through all seasons of a show on Netflix. I've made it through seven seasons of Midsomer Murders this winter. And between all these shows, I've learned a few things about the English.

First and most important, the English really do like their tea. And they like it hot. There's hardly a kitchen scene without a tea kettle sitting on the stove. And if they aren't inviting someone in for a beer, then it's always for a cup of tea. After tea, the English really do enjoy some pretty flowers. Many flowers are in hanging baskets near the front door of their homes. And I have to admit, I really find them attractive. Rural England has a large amount of murders based on my recent viewing. The English also like their pubs. Pubs seem to be a place for gossip, hanging out and just drinking.

Based on my viewing you can also find a good amount of woods in England. And people think nothing about walking in the woods day or night. And when they go out at night, they don't bother with a flashlight. They must know they are going to get into trouble and don't want to see the trouble first. British men and women in these shows seem to have a good amount of extra marital affairs. But that may be part of the murder genre or rural England. There also seems to be more guns in England than the rest of the world thinks if you believe television. I've seen a good amount of rifles and some handguns in Midsomer.

Some differences with the U.S. are that the older people in England can be more open minded. The English know how to surprise their audience sometimes with something very unexpected. I thought the English knew how to speak English and they do. Maybe I just don't know how to listen. I thought the daughter's name in Midsomer Murders was Kelly. Some people pronounced it as "Cally" and others as "Kelly". When I looked up her name on IMDB, her name was Cully.

Some similarities with the U.S. are that the police do their job well. They may go about it in different ways, but both are thorough. Bad people lie and hide in plain sight. Rural people know everything about everyone in town. And television stars do leave to pursuit other career offers. I have to admit, I'll probably learn more the more I watch, but as long as I get to watch a good murder mystery I don't care if it's from England or the U.S.A. all I care about is having a good show to watch. Until the next tea time...