Iconoclasts

Over the years, Heidi and I have had a lot of cats between us. A casual reckoning sets the number somewhere around 20, and as such, we consider ourselves experienced cat people. Even so, the two we have right now, Tibby and Milo, are such non-conformists that they continue to surprise us.

For example, where other cats we have had have ignored most toys, tunnels, scratching posts, and other cat paraphernalia, these two love anything we ever get that was meant for cats, including the outdoor stroller that I got for my birthday a couple of years ago. Whenever it is out, they use it as an extra place to hang out, presumably waiting for a stroll.

And Tibby loves water. She stalks the drips in the shower stall and even got in the tub and waded through Heidi's bath once. And both she and Milo love the fireplace. The scrunch of the newspaper and clatter of kindling has them come on the run, and even the most crackly of logs cannot scare them from their spot on the hearth, in fact that's where Tibby is right now.

Milo, on the other hand, is haunting the kitchen at the moment, hoping that one of us will put food in his bowl so that he can turn his nose up at it, the skinniest Maine Coon in the world.

Even though they are not litter mates, something there was that bonded the two of them before they came to us as kittens, and they clearly love each other. They cuddle and chirp and wrestle and play, quite content to spend their days together. It's just gravy if we happen to be home, too.

Heavy

With acknowledgement to the folks over at Two Writing Teachers, for the last 13 years on our first day back from Winter Break, my students have selected One Little Word to capture something they want in the New Year. The assignment is revealing about each individual, but the congregate collection of words is also somewhat revealing about the group, or maybe even the times.

For example, this year, a full 20 percent of the students chose the word "balance" as something they want in their lives. In their explanations they wrote such things as:

I choose balance because I can’t balance my homework with what I do at home. Sometimes I need to do my homework when I wake up, or late at night. 

My one one word for 2020 is balance. I sit in front of a screen a lot now because I got a computer. What I would like to do it get outside more and read more books. 

Balance also can apply to sleep because if I get more sleep I will have more energy so moving through the day will be easier. 

Having balance is important so I don’t have to stress and try doing 2 things at once. 

Balance would help me keep track and make time for things I need to take priority on to keep me stable. 

To me, balance means having time to do other things and try new things without having to cut something daily you do. 

I should make a schedule with a time when I have free time, food time, shower time and chores time. That’s why I want to be more balanced in 2020 or the rest of my life.

it’s hard to balance all of this struggle and pain on this thing we call life

As an adult, I value balance greatly, and I know how hard it is to find and keep, but it makes me a little sad that kids of 11 and 12 are having the same struggle.

Too Close to See

I suggested an audiobook to my mother, to help us wile away the long hours in the hospital, and she agreed. "Ann Patchett has a new novel," I told her, "and the book is narrated by Tom Hanks."

"That sounds good," she said, and I promptly downloaded it to my phone, but we never had the chance to listen together. Later, when I was driving back and forth from the Cities to fetch first my brother, then my sister, then my aunt from the airport to my mom's side, I listened to the first few hours myself.

The Dutch House is a story of siblings devoted to each other through the loss of their parents, a tale perhaps so close to home that it wasn't until this afternoon, when I wept not at the ending, but because it was over, that I realized how resonant it was.

Blackout Workout

It took a long time for those huge halogen lights hanging from the rafters in the gym to come back on after we were plunged into darkness for a minute or two. I was happily (okay, begrudgingly) jogging along on the treadmill when everything went dark. My machine stopped, but since my music kept going, it took me a minute to put all the details together and realize that it was a power outage. By the time I tapped the pause button on my phone and removed those new wireless earbuds, the big TV screens on the wall were coming back on, but all 6 of them were filled with snow. The exercise equipment blinked once and then twice, and then invited me to begin my workout, but I declined for the moment, instead trying to figure out what the protocol was. The weight area was completely dark, and the lifters were filing up to the dim emergency lit area by the front desk. The studio was very dark also, and Heidi was in there jumping rope, so I went to check on her. She was happily skipping away, no illumination necessary. I wandered back out to the main machine zone, where by now most folks had resumed their running, walking, stair-stepping, and crosstreking, eerie shadows in the gloom. As for me? The aerobic portion of my workout was over, but a little dark weight training sounded good, so I stuffed my earbuds back in and walked into the shadows cast by the faint glow of the slowly reviving overhead lights.

A Measure of Success

The dealership where I have the car serviced is newly remodeled, and I helped myself to some popcorn and a cup of Earl Grey tea and settled into a comfy leather chair to wait. A tableful of magazines was spread out in front of me, and I plucked the one devoted to the best of all our hometown has to offer. Flipping through the pages to get to the list of best restaurants, my eye caught an article about growing up biracial in our fair city. I started to read before looking at the byline, but when I did turn to see who had written such a thoughtful and moving essay, I saw the name of a former student.

How proud I was of her! And how gratified as well in the small part I knew for sure I had played in her accomplishment.

On the Ninth Day of Christmas

(Sing it, friends!)

My cousin brought to me

24
porcelain
birds

which famously belonged
to my grandmother
and I haven't seen them

in
48
years

Wow, what a flock!
Sitting on the table
Wondering where they are
and what is going to happen next.

Detective Circumstantial

As is our New Year tradition, we saw the first movie of the day this morning. Knives Out came highly recommended and it was an enjoyable, twisty, little mannered murder mystery in the style of Agatha Christie and Clue. We didn't leave the detecting behind in the theater, either.

Later in the day, as we were walking around the Tidal Basin, I came upon a huge broken piece of heavy cast iron. It appeared to be the base of a column, and scanning the area, I saw that the bottom of one of the decorative light poles lining the road was shattered. It was a good thirty feet from us, and so the impact that tossed the base, which itself must have weighed 100 pounds, must have been very great.

"Wow!" I said to Heidi. "Whoever hit that pole must have been going really fast!" I pointed to the road and the grass, shaking my head as we continued on our way. A few steps ahead, we found an empty champagne bottle. "He was probably drinking this!" I deduced. And next there was a perfectly knotted silk necktie, also in the grass "And here's his tie!"

Not surprisingly? We got back to our car before the case was solved.