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ups and downs
Sep. 1st, 2008 07:04 pmThursday my mom had her second surgery. All went well, despite her conviction that it wouldn't. Then I got to spend the rest of the morning discovering new problems and fixing some and just sitting through a barrage of neediness and pushiness until I couldn't take it anymore, and left.
I called he_who_wanders on my way down 15. I needed to kvetch. My blood pressure was probably pushing 160, and I was just a little ball of stress. He kindly just let me rant.
Later, driving down 270 through a grey landscape of halfhearted rain, on impulse I called ebeth. "What are you up to?" "Making cookie dough." "Cookie dough that is destined to become cookies, or cookie dough that will make it no farther than the spoon?" She laughed. "Well, my *intention* is to make cookies for the track this weekend. But maybe you'd be interested in coming over for some tea and a cookie?" I think she heard the stress in my voice. I was 20 minutes away, and headed directly there. Tea, and sympathy, and warm cookies, and a silly dog, and picking tomatoes were all indulged in.
The incredible thing about my good friends is the way that they will open their homes to me, and be themselves with no artifice. A couple of hours of good conversation later, she said "you know, I have a few things I need to do, and I have to take a shower. why don't you just curl up in the library for a while?"
And thus it was I curled up on her soft slate-blue couch with her copy of Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and read as the afternoon sun filtered through the rain-wet trees and into the library, with her dog curled up next to me.
I'm not sure how it is that I hadn't read the Dilemma yet. I've been meaning to for years, and I was sure I'd bought a copy at one point, but clearly I'd misplaced it or gotten distracted. It's been a cosy companion these last few days... I took it to Tryst on Friday, curled up on yet another couch, but this time with a latte as an accompaniment. It traveled back to my place, sitting idle for a while as I scrubbed and swept and vacuumed and threw out and tidied. It came out to Bethesda, keeping me company as Nick worked on his car both Friday and Saturday. I read in the car as we went to pick up samm for dinner Saturday night, and I tipsily read on the sofa before changing into a swimsuit for a late-night swim. (We had flotation device wars, and probably annoyed the neighbors.) And then I read again in the car when, on a whim, we decided to drive out to St. Mary's Sunday afternoon and join his parents for a lazy holiday on the water.
Dilemma was put on hold as I scanned the summerhouse shelves, and accidentally ended up re-reading Liar's Poker Sunday night. (Liar's Poker isn't a great book, but several Solomon refugees landed at UUnet back in the day, and the game followed them. Also, the author used to live in my building. So I had reasons for revisiting it.)
The porch has four rocking chairs that look out over the point, and there we sat, breeze blowing, water lapping, eagle circling, dogs frolicking.
I picked Dilemma back up in the morning, and after the long drive back I am nearly done. Tomorrow classes start, and it's doubtful I'll have much time for leisure reading after that. So now we are going to find some food, and then this evening I will finish the entirely enjoyable and thought-provoking Omnivore's Dilemma.
Namaste.
I called he_who_wanders on my way down 15. I needed to kvetch. My blood pressure was probably pushing 160, and I was just a little ball of stress. He kindly just let me rant.
Later, driving down 270 through a grey landscape of halfhearted rain, on impulse I called ebeth. "What are you up to?" "Making cookie dough." "Cookie dough that is destined to become cookies, or cookie dough that will make it no farther than the spoon?" She laughed. "Well, my *intention* is to make cookies for the track this weekend. But maybe you'd be interested in coming over for some tea and a cookie?" I think she heard the stress in my voice. I was 20 minutes away, and headed directly there. Tea, and sympathy, and warm cookies, and a silly dog, and picking tomatoes were all indulged in.
The incredible thing about my good friends is the way that they will open their homes to me, and be themselves with no artifice. A couple of hours of good conversation later, she said "you know, I have a few things I need to do, and I have to take a shower. why don't you just curl up in the library for a while?"
And thus it was I curled up on her soft slate-blue couch with her copy of Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and read as the afternoon sun filtered through the rain-wet trees and into the library, with her dog curled up next to me.
I'm not sure how it is that I hadn't read the Dilemma yet. I've been meaning to for years, and I was sure I'd bought a copy at one point, but clearly I'd misplaced it or gotten distracted. It's been a cosy companion these last few days... I took it to Tryst on Friday, curled up on yet another couch, but this time with a latte as an accompaniment. It traveled back to my place, sitting idle for a while as I scrubbed and swept and vacuumed and threw out and tidied. It came out to Bethesda, keeping me company as Nick worked on his car both Friday and Saturday. I read in the car as we went to pick up samm for dinner Saturday night, and I tipsily read on the sofa before changing into a swimsuit for a late-night swim. (We had flotation device wars, and probably annoyed the neighbors.) And then I read again in the car when, on a whim, we decided to drive out to St. Mary's Sunday afternoon and join his parents for a lazy holiday on the water.
Dilemma was put on hold as I scanned the summerhouse shelves, and accidentally ended up re-reading Liar's Poker Sunday night. (Liar's Poker isn't a great book, but several Solomon refugees landed at UUnet back in the day, and the game followed them. Also, the author used to live in my building. So I had reasons for revisiting it.)
The porch has four rocking chairs that look out over the point, and there we sat, breeze blowing, water lapping, eagle circling, dogs frolicking.
I picked Dilemma back up in the morning, and after the long drive back I am nearly done. Tomorrow classes start, and it's doubtful I'll have much time for leisure reading after that. So now we are going to find some food, and then this evening I will finish the entirely enjoyable and thought-provoking Omnivore's Dilemma.
Namaste.
