People are paying attention to things in ways they never did in their whole lives.
Something good has to come of all of all it. The darkeness cannot stand when so many people of good will see it for what it is.
A fresh start for the new year crawled out of the river basket this morning but, to slow me down, I washed everything in the sink. Finger-pressed, they'll be better off for the delay. Me too.
My aged phone is beginning to fail. Pictures have been chancey. If a test turns up positive, it's because I went into the phone place to look into a new one. The same day I yelled at the woman for crowding me at the post office, I only gave the stinkeye from across the store to the putz with his mask under his nose while I waited my turn.
The shit that takes up emotional energy these days...
Thursday I had errands to do. Banking from the car. Picked my time at the post office to buy some stamps only to be crowded by an idiot who I had to bark at a social distance violator - much to the glee of the mail lady who was only minimally protected from a parade of idiots by her plexiglass shield and cloth mask.
There was a short foray into the phone store to see about replacing my aging LG2. Not for a while. I'm not all that impressed with the latest model. I can wait.
Time was you didn't think about disguises, armor, or weapons. If I'd pulled up to the drive-thru at the bank like this a year ago, who knows what might have happened.
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I've always wanted a fire pit. This cast iron pot hasn't done anything but smell bad since I burned a pot of chili in it over ten years ago. I'm talking incinerated. The lid was on tight and I thought the burner was off. I chipped the charcoal out of it with a chisel but never could get rid of the smell.
Now, it's serving again. There was an incantation.
I need to get a bag of marshmallows to have on standby if someone calls the cops or fire department. I hear they'll give you a pass if you are cooking and not just burning leaves.
After working on trucks and cars all weekend, the guys took a minute to go find a Christmas tree. It's just big enough.
I met a friend for a parking lot picnic yesterday. We need to do this more!
"Well those drifter's days are past me now
I've got so much more to think about
A fine traditional meal with our small family circle. Plates packed and dropped off for those working double shifts or living alone.
Then sharing a first look at an older movie with Charlie who gave it 10 stars. "Chicken Run" has my thumbs up too.
It was dark by the time we brought Colin his dinner. An idling freight train was blocking a gated crossing. Police vehicles strobing silently on both sides. We circled around for a better view of the airfield, tiny blue lights stretched into the distance. Then we made our way through town. Every other crape myrtle swathed in Christmas lights. Charlie had a good view from his booster seat in the rear of my coupe, the seat he's about to outgrow. He went quiet.
"I feel like I could cry."
I checked him in the rearview. "What's making you sad?"
"Nothing. The night is just so beautiful."
I'm so humbled and grateful to spend time with this child.
There is a real possibility that I will be joining the ranks of the unemployed in the near future. Having more time for family, writing and art make that idea more appealing as the days pass.
This a piece of the softest damask. It was part of a small tablecloth. To be whisked out of the Maitre'd's jacket pocket to freshen a cocktail table with a flick of his wrist. The yellow freckly places stayed under soywax during a ill-advised overdye.
There were also places where I used softscrub to discharge some of the color. Much of this after the design was stitched down to the backing. The very bad design could not offset the colors that I must have been besotted with. It was ugly and I had no qualms about chopping it up.
Jim's been gone seven years now. We used to sit together and watch TV. He watched. I stitched.
As I'm studying this one now, I remembered him asking, "What are these evil little fuckers up to?"
