Category: general

22
Jan
2006

WHEN IT HITS YOU, YOU FEEL NO PAIN*

Martin and I discovered today that the snow isn’t really white. It’s blue and violet and grey and silver and white. Where the lowering sun paused behind the trees and shone, the shadows melted along the sloping sides of every drift. It only sparkled on the sunny side, but we agreed both sides were beautiful. We’ve got a good half hour walk mapped out now, and we march along, arms swinging free, talking about whatever subject strikes our (mostly his) fancy. One of his Christmas presents was a little suitcase full of illustrated boardbooks about the different countries of the...

20
Jan
2006

WHITE PETALS AND SNOW SNAKES

Lo. sifted through the winds that blow, Down comes the soft and silent snow, White petals from the flowers that grow In the cold atmosphere.* It’s snowing and blowing like crazy. All day long the flags have been overworked, stretched out to their snapping points, straining in the stiff breeze, ends fraying. This snow is so different from the last stuff we had. Then it was fat and wet and lazy and perfect for packing. This is more like diamond dust. It’s dry and granular and it blows up against everything in great drifts and piles and ridges of frozen...

19
Jan
2006

TOOTH DELAY

A long time ago, I learned my lesson the hard way when it comes to regularly scheduled dentist visits, when a years-long hiatus resulted in the most intense stabbing pain I’ve ever experienced, aside from labor. So bad that on the way to the emergency dentist for some painkillers to get me through until my regular toothman could see me, I literally stopped the car and smacked my jaw into the driver’s side window for a minute because I couldn’t focus and it wouldn’t stop and I needed to give my mind something ELSE to think about so I could...

18
Jan
2006

MENTAL PARENTAL

Life is heating up, along with the earth, which is, although it may not SEEM like it, moving down the orbital arc towards spring. Choir started tonight with a bang. We’ve already got a schedule of concerts through to August, with 3 major programs, including a tour show of the Spanish theater/dance/song/music extravaganza (Sangria!) we put on in 2004. Wheee!! We worked through a couple of our favorites from Sangria, and then started the first song from Stabat Mater, which nearly all the Swedes have sung before and knew, but I’ve never even heard of. Which is a bit strange,...

17
Jan
2006

ROSES IN DECEMBER

All my life I’ve tried to train my brain to take snapshots. When I’m in a moment that I find particularly moving or beautiful or funny, I sometimes hear this tiny little director behind my eyes suddenly whip out his megaphone, adjust his beret and yell PLACES EVERYONE—FREEZE FRAME! “SSSSSHHHH,” I tell him, “You’re ruining the moment. Be quiet.” And he frowns and looks indignant and mumbles something about just doing his job. I don’t remember when I became conscious of doing this: consciously trying to save a memory. Perhaps around the age of 9 or 10, the same time...

16
Jan
2006

CAREER PATHS

When I was 17 I thought a career in childcare was a definite possibility. I was good with kids and they liked me, and I could round them up, sit them down and get them to be quiet within minutes. I remember flooring a couple of teachers that I worked with as an aide my first few days at the daycare on the outskirts of Michigan State, when they came into a room that a few minutes earlier had been expanding like a JiffyPop, to find the 5-year-olds and I seated in a large bunched circle on the floor, quiet...

15
Jan
2006

THINKING OF SOMETHING STUPID TO SAY

It is so quiet in the house that the clickety snick of the computer keys sounds like popping bubble wrap, muted fireworks beneath my fingers. Besides my own self-generated soundtrack, I can hear the hum of the monitor, the quiet drone of computer (slightly lower-pitched), and the murmuring of the aquarium pump. Why all this undertoning doesn’t drive me batshit insane I don’t know, since normally repetitive noises top my list of cut-that-out-before-i-kill-you annoyances. The only other sound is the empty whooshing slap and slurp of my liquid brain; there’s nothing concrete to be had today, it seems. Have I...

14
Jan
2006

WORDS SPOKEN IN WINTER GO UNHEARD UNTIL THE THAW

What do you do when you find an accessory for your home that you absolutely LOVE and MUST HAVE, but your husband (or roommate or boyfriend or whatever) gets that look on his face when you take him by the arm and lead him excitedly over to show him? You know that look. It’s the same one you gave him when he suggested devoting one wall of your bedroom to Ducati motorcycles. It’s the “you’ve got to be kidding me” look, the “over my dead body” look. What do you do then? With your heart fluttering out of your body...

13
Jan
2006

OBITER DICTUMING WITH A VENGEANCE

Topics of Discussion Between Martin & I During Our Evening Walks Yesterday & Today: Greek, Indian and Norse Mythology, Whether Trickster Gods are Good or Bad, Why Some Kids Are Bullies, Which Book to Read Next After Oz3, Whether Watching Harry Potter Would Scare Him Now Since Narnia Didn’t. I’ve always loved Greek mythology. I took several courses in it, along with Art History, during college, and still have several reference books on my shelves. I think my love goes back to a particular book (although it could just be because of Wonder Woman on TV when I was an...

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