Flurries

I am up and dressed early today--a good sign. Some mornings present more demons than others do. But today is cold and gray. Through the window by my computer I can watch white particles of snow float to the ground. It will not accumulate today, a pity. But the black limbs of a naked tree and the stark gray-white sky make the perfect backdrop for the precious few flakes. Others may dread days like this, but I am energized.

Washing Clothes

I love doing laundry. Years ago, my family and I were visiting the godparents to our third child. They lived in California where we had lived for a second a couple of years previous to the trip. I made some comment about it being easier to be the visitors leaving since we had the goal of driving cross country while Ed and Virginia would have the empty house (possibly a blessing now that I think of it). Virginia answered that she would do laundry, the sheets and whatever else was dirty in the house. She was the mother of seven grown children, none at home or even in the same town but all at least occasional visitors. So I listened as she wisely explained how fulfilling laundry could be, that it was not really hard work but there was so much to show for the effort. She was right, of course. And I have often thought of her as I folded towels or hung shirts on hangers. I guess this all ties in to the new year. No wonder we say things like a "clean" break or a "fresh" start. A wise woman indeed.

A Merry Christmas

We have survived another Christmas. That is probably not a fair assessment. Survival implies that it could have done us in, and this year has been anything but that--gifts were welcomed; children were happy; adults were tired but pleased. I do not think we could ask for anything more. A high point for me was my immediate family attending Mass together, at least my children and most of the grandchildren. One exception was my six year old granddaughter who became ill and could not quite make it to 10 p.m. Mass. She was sliding into chills and fever, so she and her dad and her 23 month old brother stayed behind at our house napping in anticipation of opening presents. My own children all attended, however, including my son and his family who live in Texas. And we were all together for the grand opening of the gifts. It is interesting to watch how the long anticipated unveiling combined with a post midnight time frame and gobs of sweets can affect nine year olds. At one point, the adults imposed a moment of pause just to keep the two older girls from exploding. I loved it as I did all of the thoughtful gifts that came my way. Christmas day for us meant gathering once again for my husband's delicious pancakes before we all went our separate ways. We all began to decompress, and now this extra rest day, a bonus of a Sunday, should bring us all back to reality in a soft landing kind of way.
Christmas is my favorite time of year, and this year even provided us with a few inches of snow on the ground. I am truly happy.

Listening

My grandson, at about 20 months, may be having some language delay problems. His mother is on top of it, so I know all will be well (good?), but it has me thinking about language and how it is both precious and dangerous. Language holds us together as family, as a society, as whatever community to which we may belong. But it also can wound or be misunderstood. My reaction, at least to spoken language, is to over explain if people do not seem to get what I have said. That my be the teacher in me. I believe I may also overdo it when I attempt to be neutral and cater to both sides of an issue. This is all the more ironic since I know, as a writing teacher, that language we put on a page can be the best of learning tools. I have no solution or conclusion--just the observations.

This Time Last Year

I am about one year post now--past the second knee surgery. That six months of recovery was filled with weirdness. For one thing, I was in the middle of manic panic. I did not realize it was mania since I did not go for days without sleeping, but I was crocheting linoleum floors for Christmas. Everyone got crochet or cross stich or both. Crazy times. At the same time, I was so focused on being a good patient that recovery went well. I have a deep need to do something well to garner accolades. Since I prefer not to have any more surgery, I must find some other activity that makes me shine.

Christmas Ideas

I was stopped in traffic near Walgreens. I read the outside bulletin board: doz eggs on the first line, some kind of lotion on the second, and Flu Shots Gift Cards on the third. The "Flu Shots" posting had no apostrophe, but spelling has deteriorated so badly that it could have been an oversight. I studied the sign and decided that I could get all my Christmas shopping done in one convenient store. After all, who couldn't use some eggs and lotion? My favorite, however, would be gift cards for flu shots.
Does anyone remember when a drug store was a pharmacy, some over the counter medications, and a few toiletries?

House

I really enjoy my house, a 1904 two family we converted to a large one family. My husband did much of the rennovation and it is lovely. But is is big, and I have been healing from knee surgery, first one replaced and then three months later the other one, for about ten months now. The house is, frankly, dirty. It is not just a little vacuuming. I need to clean windows and baseboards. So I thought I would bitch on my blog rather than attack the obvious. It is such a large job that I am overwhelmed.
I want a maid. There was even a butler on the ship.