Into the Wild Wood and Home Again

Today, I have a few quick chores and groceries to attend to, and then I hope to be reading/sorting/arranging poems in the not-even-really-close-to-being-a-manuscript. I have two weeks left of flexible time. My house is still in need of a really thorough deep-cleaning, but that is hard to do when the only day there's no one else in here is Saturday. And that means packing one day a week with days/weeks/months-worth of chores and projects. Ain't happening. It can't. I wish I could justify paying someone to come help me get things under control, but the going rate is pretty steep (most charge 50/hr., with a minimum of two hours). Not that they wouldn't earn it, but I just can't see spending almost a week's worth of groceries on house cleaning. Sigh. So either I figure out how to get it done, or it's not getting done.  But not today. It's going to have to be enough that mostly the house is pretty okay. And there's just some things that will never be more...

Thirty-four years ago, at 3:17 am, Meghan Kathleen appeared on the scene-- almost 6 weeks early, and ready to roll. She's been a delight, an interesting companion, and one of the very best humans I know. And it's truly a wonder and a blessing that she's our daughter.  She's working through until Monday evening, so we can't have her traditional meatballs and spaghetti dinner this year, but my thoughts and best wishes are with her. Well, they always are. I'll see if she wants to do dinner on Tuesday.  Holly and I will go to swimming lessons, then home for lunch. After lunch, we will spend some time working on a gift for Meg. Maybe pool time after that, weather depending. I hope it's a good day. Holly misses her mom, especially when she's working a 6 day stretch without being able to come home. Working on the project will be something to keep her happy and engaged and not "spicy"-- she had a rough day yesterday, and we need a good reset.  I'm ...

Yesterday was pretty good, too. Sunny, not too sticky, and Holly did well at swimming lessons. We also spent 90 minutes in the pool in the afternoon. And picked tomatoes and green beans! Today will be some errands, some baking, and probably more pool time. Why not squeeze as much summer out of each day as we can?  Tomorrow is Meg's birthday, and she's working away until Monday. Holly and I have plans to make something for her as a gift. That'll be tomorrow's plan. And I will push grocery-getting to Saturday (time to get back on track), and I will work on my manuscript as much as possible.  Ah, the manuscript. I got a small inkling of what might be a much better organizational principle for the book, and I sorted out poems that didn't fit that narrative yesterday. I'm itching to get back to it again, but Holly has limited patience for me doing solo, quiet work. What is the controlling idea? Hint: I ordered an hourglass. Not only will it tie in with the arc of the...

Yesterday turned out quite lovely. I got chores and calls done early, and Meg, Holly, and I spent a really nice day mostly outside on the deck. Holly was in the pool for three hours (with a few snack breaks, of course). And then Meg and I went to see Rent at Weathervane in Whitefield-- what a show. It was fast, complicated, and truly a tour de force. A lot to think about, a lot to unpack.  We've both seen the show before, so it was an interesting conversation afterward on the way home to talk about what thread of the narrative that the director chose to highlight. The show debuted in 1993, and since then, some of the issues that are present in the play have waxed and waned a bit in the public eye. My take-away from this production was a focus on the marginalization of those who are homeless, and a bit of how true art is being forced to the side by "cyber creations." Of course, the omnipresent problems of drug use, AIDS/HIV, and the persecution of those in the queer commu...

 ..."and summer's lease hath all too short a date." --Sonnet 18, Shakespeare I have not accomplished much of my personal wish list this summer. I'll admit it, I've spent more time online than I ought to have, which is not only a bad use of time, but bad in general for my mental health. I've been on childcare duty since school let out, and to be honest, I get tired. Very tired. And the "free time" I've had has been spent catching up on house chores and errands, for the most part.  That all said, I have read a little. Written very little. Not nearly what I had hoped, but some. And I did start shifting poems around for a manuscript. It's nowhere near where I wanted it to be, but it's in process. But I have not even killed the weeds in the flagstones. I have not done much in the way of weeding at all. I'm just watching every day slip through my fingers, and the regrets are starting to hum in the back of my head.  Too late, too late, they...

Monday, and it's raining. Quite warm, too, and soggy. I'm not sure what today holds; we are supposed to go to swim lessons, but I wonder if maybe Holly would rather just lounge around and then do a fun art project. I hope so, honestly. We'll see. I don't have a huge to-do list, which is good, since I busted out a whole lot of stuff on Saturday. Yesterday was busy, too, so a day to kind of cruise would be super. I spent about 7 hours on Saturday building my Google Classrooms for the fall semester. They are not fully done, but what is left to do is minor. I won't add due dates until I get my plan book going. Supplemental materials will be added along the way. But the semester, for both classes, is laid out, topic by topic, week by week. Yes, I'll have to fill in some details about the assignments in some cases, but that's all in the syllabi. Honestly, I could just have them look at that, but you know kids. Sigh. If they aren't told, have it written on the ...