Thursday, September 29, 2016

A Morning in the Life

I was up at 6:30 because my neck insisted.

"No more sleep for you!" it said. "Get out of this bed right now or I am only going to give you grief for a fourth day in a row."
Well, what choice did I have? Up I got. And settled myself upright in the easy chair, drank a cup of coffee, and nearly finished reading Quiet, by Susan Cain. It's about introverts and extroverts. I wish I'd read it when Everett was a child; maybe I could've helped him cope better, introvert that he is. 
 
At 7:30 we were off to Scott's mom's for breakfast. Well, he was off in his truck. I still had to get dressed, but said I'd be there shortly; I'd walk. 

"You won't get there before 8:30," he said. 

"As if," I sniffed. "When have you ever known me to spend a half-hour in the bathroom, curling my hair and putting on my makeup? Pfft. I'll be there by eight."

And so I was. It was cold out and windy and took 20 minutes of brisk walking. I wore a thick checkered coat under a windbreaker with the hood up over a tuque, and a scarf and gloves. There were gunshots to the south, which made me nervous, and lightning and thunder in the north. Scott came driving back to see if I'd like a ride but I'd warmed up by then, halfway there. When I said no but thanks that is sweet of you, he told me he'd seen a dark animal larger than a dog crossing the road ahead of me. Shit, said I, what do you think it was? No idea, said he. 

"Well if I'm not there in 15 minutes, send a search party into the bushes. If it drags me off, it won't eat my bright red coat."

In the jar I'm making a medicinal tincture with the herb motherwort; on the table are spearmint and wild yarrow, dried, for tea.

Reply to Comments

Maggie Turner on "Please Make Me a Choir": 

I agree Julie, it is such a shame! I loved to sing until that experience. The thing about music was that I didn't hear it at any other time than at school, except a little bit on Captain Kangaroo, I had no experience with it at all, and had never practised using my voice to sing, it was unthinkable. I can soar with the eagles in my mind's ear. 



Hi, you ladies! To Kate, maybe some willing friend who knows lots of good songs can teach you some and then you can start your own choir. 

I'm fussy. I want a choir in my living room; actually I want a barbershop quartet.  - Kate

To Maggie: It is personal to me because I have helped so-called non-singers to sing and I am scathing towards the people who ruined a natural pleasure for so many people. There are so few people who can't sing--if they are tone-deaf and can't hear the difference between notes. I have only met one person like that in a lifetime full of choirs and groups and singing at home with friends. Ironically, the tone-deaf woman sang with gusto; it sounded awful but I was so happy to hear it, my heart was so very lifted up with the joy she was spreading!