"Thoughts Of an Old [Woman] In a Dry Season"

A few times in my life, I have forgot something on the stove or in the oven until it burned up. So I routinely check to make sure everything is turned off before I leave the house or go to bed. It occurred to me this morning that I'm not the only one getting old and living largely by herself. So I hope Susan and Ramey, and even Jed who ain't no spring chicken, will learn this practice from me, if they don't do it already.
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I'm working on the book again today, mostly on the time line--trying to make sure I haven't got somebody born before his mama. I've got a file this thick, with calendars for years in the 1940s, histories of Oak Ridge and Redstone Arsenal, wildlife and landscape features I remember on the mountain. I guess I'm just in love with that book. I didn't feel anything like this for the romances I wrote; that's probably why I abandoned them: they just were not my thing.

Deb, who comments here sometimes, said that she writes children's books. Ramey does, too, writes and illustrates them. I want to write one about the Maynards' children, Patsy, Joyce, Ramona, Susie and Franny (I just changed the twin Sally's name to Franny).

They're almost like little stair-steps, born in 1936, 1938, 1941, and the twins in 1943 or '44. Patsy (called Patrick) is the level-headed one, and Ramona the "holy terror." Joyce (Josie) is the "Big Mouth," who offends all of them with her perceptive comments.

I haven't decided whether to write them as little children, or as teenagers. I guess I know more about little ones, because I never was a teenager. At least, not a normal one.
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So, I need to go to the store today and get the makin's for biscuits. I crave biscuits, although I hate the doughy innards. I just eat the tops and bottoms.

Several years ago, two different people (I think Ramey and Jed) gave me bottles of maple syrup. The bottles are shaped like maple leaves. I ate one bottleful, then opened the other one. The cap on the second bottle was always hard to open, and after a while I couldn't open it at all. It has sat there in the refrigerator for at least two or three years. What I need to know: If I ever manage to get the top off, will the syrup still be safe to eat?