Color 18/100

Clocked out 1306, after busy case. Surgeon complimented my skills

Related to hand, foot coordination. Related to my driving stick

Making my car less susceptible to theft, young can't shift.

Could. Haven't been taught, no exposure. I only learned later.

Only good outcome of bad marriage, but definitely good skill.


Porch progress less visible, mudding drywall not impressive, if important.

Looking forward to our part, self-stick tiles, paint, lights

Build platform, for washer dryer which Polynesian friends moving

Up from basement. Awaiting toilet and laundry tub arrival, soon?

Functionality before decoration. Looking forward to being creative, colorful.

Shepherd 17/100

Lymph nodes swollen with evidence. Struggling back to full strength.

Relieved that healthcare may be saved for now, beyond worry.

Reading this excellent book, warm intelligence, vivid writing, deep humor.

Searching out every interview, Maddow, Fresh Air, Colbert, Joy Reid.

Supporting investigations into the election. Plenty of dirty shenanigans afoot.




I took a knee, despite my indifference to football, Sunday.

I care about police brutality and itchy, racist trigger fingers.

The cats politely ignored me, as is right and normal.

We need an anthem new written, not by a slaver.

This dog doesn't care, either, and the sheep go on.

Raineth 16/100

The rain it raineth every day. Well, all today anyway.

Pigeons camping out on the porch, looking bedraggled and tired.

Back room a staging area for the work. Dreading cleanup.

One day, a workroom, spare bed, useful space. Not yet.

Drywall up, inspections done, nearly there, but not done yet.





I recover slowly, as is my wont, lymph node swollen

Under the right mandible, radiating all over the place now.

Fatigue easing at the rate of an hour hand, a calendar. Imperceptible movement.

Dylan put the stim on me this morning, which helped.

New cream proving very soothing, my poor dry red face.

Hardy 15/100

When not feeling well, the nonessential stuff I drop.

Wearing earrings. Picking up socks. I conserve energy, shunt effort.

Writing so far down the list I don't even remember.

Feed cats. Get to work. Drive carefully. Eat food occasionally.

Hug Dylan. Read a little. Wear clothes to stay warm.


Still dragging my butt around, each day improves a little.

Reservoirs refilling. I've never been strong this way, knocked down,

I tend to take a long time recovering, frustrating, worrying.

And it doesn't take much, a gut bug, a flu,

A sleepless night. I would I were more hardy made.

Ill for several days. Will start again when I recover. Nothing serious, just completely fatiguing. Not to worry.

Freedom 14/100

Old age is not kind to any of our bodies

The trade is for perspective and the possibility of wisdom.

The pain is more tolerable than the ignorance for me.

But then, I once had both pain and ignorance together.

My heart is free, my mind unfettered, soul easy.


That my knees crackle on stairs, shoulders spasm each morning,

Still better than my gut in uproar, migraines pinning me,

Which was my childhood, on top of my father's rage.

To see clear, to be loved, to love so freely

My body can deal, knows how to ignore and cope.

Forgot 13/100

I forgot yesterday, came home tired. In no mood. I

Wanted to sleep. Mess at work. So

Came home, watered. Ate a meal. Not

At all easy. Did not prepare. Which

I usually do. Before bed, prep. But


Wakeful in the wee hours I remembered the project and

Felt neglectful and unfaithful, so I resolved to do better.

Got home so tempted to let it go again.

But faithfulness is important and neglect the worst of sins.

Didn't used to think so, but, it's the worst one.

Sight 12/100

Moby wanted to be out, he seemed more confident today

His one eye, at least, constricted, I think he sees

At least a bit, now. He seemed to feel better.

After thirteen years, we are attuned to his mood, so

Yes, I think the antihypertensive is working. The next step.


Ten days, rechecking blood pressure. We wait and watch him.

He's had some bad luck with health, teeth, murmur, eye,

Paw, gut, skin. Now this. He's lost weight, two years.

Nothing we can't deal with, or him, but very annoying.

We just do what is needful. As with each other.

Pressure 11/100

Blood pressure. Not cataracts or glaucoma. Need to know why.

Visiting vet examined, diagnosed, treated. Gave him meds with meal.

He seemed to feel better immediately. Now stretched out comfortably.

Tech will come back and check his pressure every week,

His vision may return, at least in one eye, soon.




Insulation in progress. Very quiet out there, not too hot.

Will be warm this winter. A pleasant if utilitarian room.

Planning on a chair, so I can read while waiting.

Tomatoes still coming, lots more green on this unassuming plant.

Still very warm, rained enough to make it uncomfortably humid.

Endings 10/100

Confusing day, short but long. Unaccountably tired out by work.

Dylan read A Legacy of Spies by John Le Carre yesterday.

I have Golden Hill by Francis Spufford, one chapter in.

Getting ready to put it down, skipped to the end.


Tired of the mystery. The answer so stunning I smiled.

Now, I'm eager to read it, the sense of inevitability.

Always happier with fiction when I know the ending, reading richly.

Rereading a book much more a pleasure, if well written.

Life rarely offers answers, novels provide satisfaction, reason, meaning, endings.

Maelstrom 9/100

Inside. Pulling myself inside, my own world, in.

Inside my head. Inside my silence. Inside my skin. Inside.

Here, I am fine. Here, I am kind and loved.

In this house this home, this family of us folks.

We are secure in our hearts and souls, in here.


That the storms are external, the world is in strife

Confuses my profound internal balance, after a life of internal

Wrongfootedness. Now I'm finally a gyroscope, watching the world falter.

Watching the chaos, mesmerized by my own balance, raw bones,

No protection, no plan, whirling in the maelstrom of fate.

Rasp 8/100

Raspberries. Perfect, seedy, delightful balm to any tongue. New planted.

Only this spring, and here they are, ripe and ready.

Behind the roma tomato plant that has overwhelmed the fennel.

Likely to take over the poor soil next summer season.

This is fine, they are welcome, be fruitful and multiply.


Moby wanted to visit the back, so I followed him.

City inspector arrived, pleased with windows. I explained my purpose.

Watching near-blind, elderly cat, protecting him from any harm.

Inspector tells me of his elderly cat friend, we bond.

Moby approves of the construction also. Both cats seem to.

Eternity 7/100

Apple slice in almond butter. Sticky rice in lotus leaf.

Milk in a tea cup. Fresh peas from the garden.

Cat in a sunny window. Smoke on the western horizon.

Screen door in a thunderstorm. White caps on the lake.

Music drifting through the darkness. Old house creaking at night.



Soft breathing in my ear. Warm body at my back.

Worry pricking through my sleep. Elastic taut below my arm.

Scratchy grit in my eyes. Spasm gripping my waking legs.

Memories withdrawing into dense torpor. Hair pulling away the dream.

Late light in heated morning. Solid floors floating in eternity.

Immunity 6/100

The solution to pollution is dilution. We cannot be rid of

All our Us vs Them thinking, because it's built

Into our cells, and is usually necessary, evolutionarily advantageous.

The foreign body, the invading virus, will sicken and kill.

The stranger is not kin, is unpredictable, may steal.


These are life saving defenses. Turned off, we are vulnerable.

We have not all learned yet why, or how, to stop.

Left unchecked, they attack healthy tissue, friends, neighbors, humanity.

Racism is that mechanism, overfed on fear, greed, power.

Unaffected by reason, must be flooded, treated, contained, turned around.

Solarium 5/100

Someone painted these bricks. And getting paint off bricks is

Not a reasonable project for amateurs. So, I checked online

Found a video, and much like make-up, with paint

It can be faked. More paint, roll, stipple, blot, highlight.

Well, that* I can do. Old girl gets a makeover!


Very hot, but Porch is fine, not done being insulated

Even so, moderate. Eleanor explores. Moby sits close, not in.

Why? Cats, who can figure 'em? Planning a door flap.

Litter box out there. A way up to windows, sun.

Multi use room. Laundry, toilet, solar. Everyone welcome. A chair.






*A whole year of theater make-up, long long ago.

Change

Windows 4/100

We have windows now. I stand in this space now,

And it is a room, a part of House, secure, solid.

I'm impressed with the craftsmanship, appreciate the work done well.

A worthy project, not cheap. Eager to decorate it well.

Much more than we'd planned, but - feels like a bargain.






Moby casting about, I sat him on the sheepskin chair.

He didn't settle, so I sat him beside me, he took arm.

I got up, he moved down. Eleanor hopped in beside.

They've been there hours. "We voted. We get the chair."

Ok then. Who am I to deny a proper democracy?

Cops 3/100

Things you never want to see in front of your

Home. Panoply of police vehicles, and yellow tape, and cops.

Everyone safe now. Distraught man with a gun, suicidal, running

I was still at work, parked a block away,

Escorted home. Neighborhood on edge. Hot, dusty, anxious.


We have windows in the back porch, enclosed, still bright.

Cats allowed back out there now, have not explored yet.

Yes, I know about the nurse arrested for doing right.

I hold the University Police responsible for not doing their jobs.

The future is female, but not without a hard fight.