Saturday the 17th of October...

It's a cool but sunny day...afternoon now. I've spent a chunk of the morning reading a book I got yesterday by Alice Hoffman called The Ice Queen...a book that touched me in places I haven't been touched in for some time. I have laughed out loud, sobbed and read in awe of the mysteries of lightning. I just finished it.

Husbandman is gone to the frigid far north for his parents 25th anniversary. I elected to stay here and take care of animals, both ours and the neighbors. I also had a commitment to run the district meeting on Sunday as the head cheese has to work that day. So, I am enjoying my solitude. People keep calling me and asking if I'm alright, do I need them to come out and stay, do I want to come stay at their homes??? NO. I don't understand why so many people are so afraid of being along...I treasure it. Maybe it's from growing up in such a large family where you can barely breathe most of the time. Maybe it's because living with another human being has always been a trial for me. Maybe I just like the quiet...I haven't even turned on the radio...At any rate, I'm about to turn my telephone off for the rest of the day, just to have some peace.

I spent some time working out in my studio...making an autumnal wreath for my front door. It's turning out quite nicely... I will take a picture of it when it's done. I make some at Xmas time, and I even made one for Halloween for my DIL one year--that was fun...all sorts of spiders and bats and skeletons all over it. I watched The Devil Wears Prada and ate popcorn with nutritional yeast and butter on it. I ate leftovers for supper...the last of the Caribbean sew and some mashed potatoes. It's supposed to freeze tonight...I brought in some plants. Mostly I have just oozed around the place and enjoyed being alone.

I finished cleaning up the kitchen...and the cat boxes. All but one of the cats is in tonight, and I keep calling her but she won't come. It's the one in the picture here. Junko Taibei... I think she must be under the house, as last night when I was here I swore I heard her, and went to the door several times and she was nowhere to be found. Little Caylee is outside too, and doesn't want to come in. So--I turned the porch light off and left her out there. The other dogs are in and I'm sure she'll get lonesome enough in short order.

I'm ready to get in bed and read a bit....I have a new book of Alice Walker's early poems...Her Blue Body Everything We Know...Earthling Poems 1965-1990 It was at the sale table at Borders...and I love her and buy everything I haven't read before. She's my hero....


And here's one of my favorites: "Good Night Willie Lee, I'll See You In The Morning"

Looking down into my fathers
dead face
for the last time
my mother said without
tears, without smiles
without regrets
but with civility
"Good night, Willie Lee, I'll see you
in the morning."
And it was then I knew that the healing
of all our wounds
is forgiveness
that permits a promise
of our return
at the end.

--Alice Walker (1974)



Namaste.