Watching

 

Nearly eight! 

We will have a handful of days like today before he goes to day camp in July.  Weather permitting, we'll rotate between the park, the pool, and the library. He is a ball of energy and has that unmoored social ineptness so common to singletons. But he'll find his way because he is sensitive and smart. 

He loves to hear about the tomfoolery (he also collects archaic language) that my night job delivers on a regular basis. 

Last night a restaurant manager called to report that she received a phone call about a naked man on the roof of the restaurant. As soon as she hung up the phone, another call came in. This time it was the naked man calling. She hung up on him, called the police, and went outside to walk around the building to see if anyone was out there. Or up there. Nothing and nobody.

Charlie was hysterical and said, "She should have told him NO SHIRT, NO SHOES, NO SERVICE!"  I wish I had been that witty. 

This park is fifteen minutes from home. Wide-open, brand new equipment in a very large oval yard surrounded by wide sidewalks and low walls with polished concrete seating. I need to remember my seat cushion.  Beyond the playground, are open fields with miles of walking paths. There is a little kid's playground on the other side of the park. Pavillions for picnics and BBQs. All that's missing is a splash pad. Charlie plunges in and leaves me to my devices. I sit where I can see the kids. Check for his blue/black flash every few minutes.

Today was different. I found myself watching the perimeter. Looking for the out-of-place person.  And I wasn't the only one. An elderly gentleman looking like Santa on vacation set up a canvas folding chair in the shade off to one side. He had a huge hardcover novel but didn't turn many pages. Across from me on the other side of the playground, a black woman, arms folded also looking behind the children. Noting who came and went. We watched. Behind us, the teachers and families of a kindergarten class were setting up a graduation party under the big pavilion. Clutches of little half-pints in red and gold caps and gowns flitted around the playground like hot butterflies. 

 I put my cloth on the pavement between my feet . The cloth had nothing to say today. 

All hands

 

Sometime last September I had a duel with a jar of salsa. The lid would not come off and I wanted that salsa. Without bothering with the usual methods of coaxing a stuck lid - you know, tapping it on the table, running it under hot water, etc. - I grabbed it and used every ounce of strength I had. 

Yes! There was salsa. There was also a very painful swelling on the back of my hand over my two middle knuckles. The usual remedies didn't help much.

A week or so later, I went for my booster shot. The dispensing pharmacist welcomed me behind the screen. He'd noticed that I had difficulty with the paperwork and was cradling my lumpy hand. He asked me to spread my hand out on the tabletop and explained that in Pakistan he had been a hand surgeon. He had me move my hand thus and so. Touched the swelling very gently and declared that I had torn a tendon. Ice, rest, and a long recovery period were prescribed. No more fighting with recalcitrant jar lids. And a COVID jab for good measure. He was right.

Today was the first time since then that I was able to thread a needle and use it without any pain. I'd almost forgotten it was something I did all the time without even thinking about it. I basted a few likely players into position for about an hour and called it enough.

 Actually, it was Bailey who called it enough. He's a peripatetic fur snake but when he wants love, he leaps into your lap and demands it. Clambers over whatever you have in your lap, damn the pins and needles.  

Maybe for only a minute or three before he dashes off, but it's always a miracle to see him drop the tough guy routine for a dose of mama love. Irresistible.

A heart of darkness

 

I frighten myself. I imagine I frighten a lot of you gentle souls. For that, I'm sorry. 

Like many, I couldn't sleep last night. Charlie has a little cold. An earache from swimming. Every time he coughed in the next room, I was reminded how being a parent, even a grandparent, is having your heart outside of your body for the rest of your life. In its place, I have a black hole full of lightning and lasers.

Awake, I kept imagining the terror in that classroom. Do you really think they all died instantly? There is no god that good.

If anyone says "thoughts and prayers" to my face, they may well experience the wrath of Kali.

 

When I did fall asleep, I imagined myself moving through the night with a machete in each hand. Finding the NRA puppets, one by one. Slashing. Laying waste. I have never been more furious at being an old woman.

All I have is my vote, and I did earlier in the day. What money I can spare will go to the Blue candidates who need it most.

Beto was magnificent today. And I can't wait for the 1/6 findings to be televised. The revolution WILL be televised. 

And over all of this, the sweetness of summer.

Store update

 

This one is ready and one other.  I've left the pieces larger than I used to pack in the fat baggies.  Hand-sized for the most part, some larger. I've tried to put a large variety of cloth and colors in a bundle. Likewise the threads.

You get to chop them up as needed.  

Details here.

Email me to order.

This one is SOLD.

Summer still new

There was a Spring this year. Brief, flirty, but we had it. 

The heat and humidity snuck up on me yesterday.  I've had a cold for a couple days - sneezing and runny nose are the extent of it. Not enough of a bother to get tested since I live like a hermit and still mask if I have to go out. 

This may be the best investment in good clean fun that I've ever made. 

Everything flourishes. I have sunflowers for the first time. Now all I have to do is keep the climbers from strangling them. A daily battle with a potted garden.

There is a ton of dyed cloth. Enough to go around for a long time. I still haven't done up the muslin for my summer dresses so there will be at least one more round of dyeing.

School is almost over here. Charlie went in the pool for the first time yesterday. 15 minutes and his lips were blue but still, he had to be dragged out. It's going to be a fun summer.

All of this busy-ness is a distraction from a clutch of admin-type stuff that I'm not doing. You, know, wills, taxes - that sort of nonsense.

One accomplishment has me all full of self. Finding a tolerable new. local primary care doctor/facility. Bloodwork all came back astounding normal. My health coach, a charming leprechaun of a boy, wants me doing cardio in a pool somewhere to spare my miserable skeleton.

So, we will swim till we sweat  WHEN the temperature comes around. Sushi replaces the roast beef hero, ginger ale traded for seltzer, and some vitamins for slightly elevated triglycerides. 

There are still books to write, cats to herd, a child to see raised. Life.