email clippings

28 March
I found out th'Son's next court date is June 30. His bond is high, so he'll be there for the duration. My daughter-in-law J's due to have H's baby sister or brother --my second grandchild-- in August or September; maybe th'Son will get "time served" on the probation violation and the rest will be dropped - so that he gets to be with his family then.

I think I'm finally clawing my way out of this depression. It's been a rough year so far, with pets dying, friends' family members dying, my son in jail and maybe headed for prison, just to hit the high points. It's really a wonder I'm not crazier than I am.

Winter is over and Spring is coming.

I'm writing again; that's always helped in the past.

31 March
Went to Lexington last night for th'Mr's 3rd appearance on the university's NPR station. Sunday back to Lex for a Limestone reading (th'Mr's one of the readers) at a coffeehouse (...commongrounds?) not sure of the name, but it's supposed to be a block from HighonLime wherever that is (or is it highonrose? highonmain?)

Anyway, "things is looking up" here too. Could be the weather or some universal biorhythm our scientists so far know nothing about nor even suspect, but yesterday was a day where everything went right.

5 April
I managed a walk in the woods yesterday, and an hours' sit in the sun, stitching at the picnic table. Tonight we're booked 5:30 to nine, and tomorrow we head to Beckley for three days. th'Mr's begun tilling the garden, and I've pulled dandelions out from among the flowers, and *thought* about mowing.

I find finishing projects gives me an emotional boost, so I'm stashing lots of almost-finished projects. So when I need a lift I can complete one. How's that for logical?

17 April
What was an SUV doing going fast enough to hit a cat --cats are alert!-- in your neighborhood anyway!?!? I am so pissed at these ignorant self-centered assholes who drive like they live in a fucking bubble.

I had a sweet little cat in Florida that got killed when someone swerved TO hit her. Witnesses told me that when they brought her to me. It took me about six months before I got another "found" cat (crying under my truck when I came out of the grocery store).

I think we need animals to love, otherwise there's no place for all that extra love to go. Giving them a good life is a good deed we do, and maybe we all --animals included-- only have so many heartbeats alloted to us. Maybe this was Beau's ~Time~ no matter where and how he'd spent the rest of his life. Take comfort. He was a happy cat.

18 April
The Southern Kentucky Book Fest was fine. We met for an "awards lunch" on Friday - we were near the door and when JBH & his wife MTH came in they sat with us - he's a wonderful poet who really knows how to ~read~ his stuff, not only write, and the one time I heard MA read from one of her novels I had to have it, right then :) Well, th'Mr didn't win the $1000 check for his novel (which we could have really used LOL) but the chicken-someItalianName was fantastic.

We stayed in a cheap little Indian-owned motel near the Corvette plant, with HBO and cable, and spent the afternoon watching the history channel. We don't have cable at home, which means we have no TV reception at home, and use the TV only for the movies we get from Netflix.

Friday night was "Authors' Reception" with open bar and more food; we got quite sloshed on good wine and th'Mr ate lots of shrimp. I'm allergic, so I took only one small nibble and was able to say the shrimp were REAL fresh. So I kept refilling his plate. The chartered bus shuttled us back to the motel.

Saturday the book fair - from nine to three. It was nice, as such things go. There are people we only see at these events, that we like quite well, so that is a real purpose of going. Sold quite a few books, met some new people we'll look forward to seeing at the next one, and th'Mr made a couple new contacts of the "come read to us and we'll pay you" variety. And I was able to piece one-and-a-half quilt patches while I sat there with him.

Bowling Green probably has more restaurants per capita than any other US city --I knew this when I worked at the Corvette plant for eleven weeks in 1996-- so we were sure to get a sack of White Castles (LOL) before we left town. It was a beautiful drive (windows down) both coming and going. Redbuds, sarvis, and even dogwood are showing their colors. Got home about dark - which is nine o'clock now.

20 April
My earliest memory is lying on my back in my crib, and my hand sailing past my face, then my hand doing the same thing again. Although I didn't have concepts for the words "right," "left," "sneak," or even "hand," I decided, after some thought, that in order for my hand to go from right to left after it had already done that once, first it would have to return from the left to the right. If I snuck it over, out of my vision, that wouldn't change the fact it had made the trip. I have no way of knowing for sure, but I think this was before I could even turn over on my own.

I remember standing in my crib, wobbly, holding on with one hand, and peeling and eating wallpaper with the other. Mom says I was five months old when that was going on.

I remember crawling into the doghouse with my grandma's dog (and my great grandma yelling at me about it) when I was almost two. I can see the dress she was wearing and the wooden spoon she was shaking at me :)

I remember LOTS from age three and four. I remember two dreams I had when I was four.

20 April
A big cloud covered the sun and I couldn't see (a real contrast to how bright it'd been) so I came inside to record the other bird call I'd been hearing:

twee-dadder twee-dadder chupchupchupchupchupchupchup
Not sure what kind of bird that is. :)
Been hearing Indian Chickens (pileated woodpeckers) all day.

I don't know if the birds are through building their nests, or still working at it, but I found a baggie full of yarn scraps --like, most under a foot long-- and scattered them up in the high dry weeds behind the smoke house.

I have spent one glorious lazy afternoon mostly away from the computer, soaking up the sun to the background noise of windchimes donging, birdcalls and the sounds the breeze makes in the treetops. Damn maple tree kept spitting its dry flowers onto me though.

I guess the only thing I've accomplished so far is washing about half of the dirty dishes and pouring the old coffee onto one of the rose bushes. If it doesn't rain tonight I'll probably drag the waterhose to the garden tomorrow.

21 April
I made it rain. Located the sprinkler, attached it to a hose, dragged it to the garden, spent ten minutes setting it up and adjusting, and within five minutes it was thundering, lightning, and I barely had time to get the dogs inside before the rain she came apouring. Left the truck window down and some groceries in the back. At least the paper towels were in the floorboard, and away from the open window. :)

I am taking a break from a rousing game of "pin the sleeve in the armhole" which may well be the hardest thing I've ever attempted.