Who'd guess that a ghost
(just a bed sheet with eyeholes)
could be so poignant?
Sunday, October 08, 2017
Wednesday, October 04, 2017
10
“That’s another great thing about getting older. Your life is written on your face.” - Frances McDormand, 60, one of my heroes.
Also, Pause by Mary Ruefle, mentioned in the article above.
I love reading wise words about growing older.
This morning we looked and looked for the beautiful red fox we saw yesterday on Mackworth. We've done the Mackworth loop walk hundreds and hundreds of time (it's as much part of my routine as brushing my teeth or setting my alarm for 6:30), but we've never seen a fox there before. This guy was big and fluffy and magnificent, with his head held high (unlike the smaller, low-slung gray Oakdale fox). We looked at him and he looked at us. He only trotted away when we moved slightly closer and Gus barked. He looked like the fox I follow on Instagram.
Hey, we went camping last weekend! We drove farther north and east than we've ever been in Maine, so far up the coast our phones got confused and thought we were on Atlantic time.
I ended up with the warmer (borrowed) sleeping bag, and Mark got chilly and we both woke up from the fact that we were basically sleeping on the ground, and we were late getting to the camp ground in the first place and had to pitch the tent in the dark (of course). BUT, despite all that, it was so much fun. It's been so long since I've camped — we always talked about doing it with the kids, but somehow 25 years went by, and we never did it. I love the food preparation (hotdogs on sticks over the fire) and coffee drinking parts of camping, the smells and slowed pace and lack of screens, etc. And this was such an idyllic spot, right by the water, facing east for the sunrise. And both dogs were angelic, seriously. They snuggled up to us at night in the tent, and were happy to be tethered to the picnic table or to walk on leashes around the (empty) campground otherwise. We hiked too, and make great use of all our (mostly borrowed) camping gear.
Also, Pause by Mary Ruefle, mentioned in the article above.
I love reading wise words about growing older.
This morning we looked and looked for the beautiful red fox we saw yesterday on Mackworth. We've done the Mackworth loop walk hundreds and hundreds of time (it's as much part of my routine as brushing my teeth or setting my alarm for 6:30), but we've never seen a fox there before. This guy was big and fluffy and magnificent, with his head held high (unlike the smaller, low-slung gray Oakdale fox). We looked at him and he looked at us. He only trotted away when we moved slightly closer and Gus barked. He looked like the fox I follow on Instagram.
 |
| Sometimes she snuggles. |
I ended up with the warmer (borrowed) sleeping bag, and Mark got chilly and we both woke up from the fact that we were basically sleeping on the ground, and we were late getting to the camp ground in the first place and had to pitch the tent in the dark (of course). BUT, despite all that, it was so much fun. It's been so long since I've camped — we always talked about doing it with the kids, but somehow 25 years went by, and we never did it. I love the food preparation (hotdogs on sticks over the fire) and coffee drinking parts of camping, the smells and slowed pace and lack of screens, etc. And this was such an idyllic spot, right by the water, facing east for the sunrise. And both dogs were angelic, seriously. They snuggled up to us at night in the tent, and were happy to be tethered to the picnic table or to walk on leashes around the (empty) campground otherwise. We hiked too, and make great use of all our (mostly borrowed) camping gear.
Sunday, October 01, 2017
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
17
We're going camping on Friday!
We used to camp, and we even owned camping gear...a tent, metal plates, that sort of thing. And we always talked about taking the kids camping. But then 25 years just went by somehow. Mark found our tent in a big plastic bin in the basement. It smelled terrible.
Our pal Mitchell's tent is all newish and color-coded, for nearly foolproof pitching.
We will see if we remember how to do it (camping, that is). "What if we get bored?" said Mark. But we're bringing things to eat and drink, a stack of New Yorkers, hiking shoes, and two goofy dogs.
In medical news, all is well and mammography has gone 3-D.
 |
| Mitchell loaned us this lovely big tent, and we practiced putting it up in the back yard. |
We used to camp, and we even owned camping gear...a tent, metal plates, that sort of thing. And we always talked about taking the kids camping. But then 25 years just went by somehow. Mark found our tent in a big plastic bin in the basement. It smelled terrible.
Our pal Mitchell's tent is all newish and color-coded, for nearly foolproof pitching.
We will see if we remember how to do it (camping, that is). "What if we get bored?" said Mark. But we're bringing things to eat and drink, a stack of New Yorkers, hiking shoes, and two goofy dogs.
 |
| I'll call this one "Indignities of the Flesh." |
Saturday, September 23, 2017
21
I keep going back to this poem.
"I thought about what I wanted for you—
(love love and more love)
but you were already you,
not an outgrowth of my mind"
I am good at #3 and #4 in Jung's list of five things important for living a happy life.
Are we living in a simulation? Prolly.
I realized the other day that I was experiencing being hangry. I hadn't eaten since a stupid bowl of cereal at 9 or something, and somehow it was 5:30 and I was in Whole Foods looking for the fucking soft corn tortillas. Ugh, I just...hated everyone there for a minute. Everyone. I was annoyed by this woman talking on her phone in some melodious foreign language who I kept finding myself walking past, and the Whole Foods employees laughing together and not being immediately available to tell me where the hell they keep the soft corn tortillas,* and the slow slow slow elderly woman contemplating mid-aisle... Also, I felt like I looked like a person who rolled out of bed at went to the grocery store in her pajamas (although I was fully dressed and had just been interacting in a work situation with other grownup humans). So I bought a bar that had almonds and sweetness in it and ate it in the car.
*I did eventually find them, and Mark made me a taco when I got home.
"I thought about what I wanted for you—
(love love and more love)
but you were already you,
not an outgrowth of my mind"
I am good at #3 and #4 in Jung's list of five things important for living a happy life.
Are we living in a simulation? Prolly.
I realized the other day that I was experiencing being hangry. I hadn't eaten since a stupid bowl of cereal at 9 or something, and somehow it was 5:30 and I was in Whole Foods looking for the fucking soft corn tortillas. Ugh, I just...hated everyone there for a minute. Everyone. I was annoyed by this woman talking on her phone in some melodious foreign language who I kept finding myself walking past, and the Whole Foods employees laughing together and not being immediately available to tell me where the hell they keep the soft corn tortillas,* and the slow slow slow elderly woman contemplating mid-aisle... Also, I felt like I looked like a person who rolled out of bed at went to the grocery store in her pajamas (although I was fully dressed and had just been interacting in a work situation with other grownup humans). So I bought a bar that had almonds and sweetness in it and ate it in the car.
*I did eventually find them, and Mark made me a taco when I got home.
Friday, September 22, 2017
22
I drove to Chicago (all things know, all things know) and back. Mom and Dad and I are great road trip companions, and we had only as many adventures as we wanted to have.
Zoë doesn't officially start classes til next Monday, so we got to do a lot of fun activities with her, including the architectural boat tour on the Chicago River.
Mom, Zoë, and I also got to spend an afternoon at a giant, wonderful, strange Korean spa. There were two sections, one with "baths" and lots of naked ladies (including us), and another with dry saunas, nap rooms, a movie room, a restaurant, an "oxygen room," a freezing cold "ice room," game rooms, and more. Also there were people of every gender clothed in what I thought of as prison jammies.
If you ever get to go to a Korean spa, I recommend it. There's one in Dallas that has a waterpark attached to it.
 |
| Saddest little rest area shop display in Ohio. |
 |
| They would be cool even if they weren't iconic. |
Mom, Zoë, and I also got to spend an afternoon at a giant, wonderful, strange Korean spa. There were two sections, one with "baths" and lots of naked ladies (including us), and another with dry saunas, nap rooms, a movie room, a restaurant, an "oxygen room," a freezing cold "ice room," game rooms, and more. Also there were people of every gender clothed in what I thought of as prison jammies.
 |
| Illicit locker room photo, featuring me looking slightly hysterical. Later, I was disconcerted enough at the being naked part that I kept leaving my locker open with all my worldly goods inside. |
Sunday, September 17, 2017
27
Reporting live from Chicago, where I'm visiting Zoë with Mom and Dad, my trusty road trip companions. We have eaten and coffeed well, and seen some Chicago sites, finally met Z's sweet petit ami, and I've gotten to spend time watching BoJack Horseman with my girl, which I've been meaning to watch ever since I saw this great talk by Lisa Hanawalt. It is so good to be here with her.
 |
| Because it is such nice landscaping. |
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