Wednesday, December 22, 2021
Tuesday, December 21, 2021
stable
Big A is back; my back feels better; got cards and presents in the mail; a few visits (and presents); did our third session of family therapy; ordered in pizza; read together; watched Bob's Burgers (with Nu) and Station Eleven (after Nu went to bed); got my aunt's hopes up about a visit home; celebrated the end of the Kelloggs' strike...
A long day... the longest day of the year... and it was cozy and a nice balance of Christmas with other good things.
Pic: multiculti altar w/ nativity scene
Monday, December 20, 2021
"O Christmas Tree"
But our old tree wasn't working for me... or working really--many of the lights were out and it was small and tippy. So Nu--my hero today--set up this tall, skinny tree and helped me decorate it.
It'll be such a surprise for Big A and At! We've left the personal ornaments out for people to put on themselves. And that may have to be a Christmas Eve thing. Maybe do this post-Thanksgiving in the years to come?
Sunday, December 19, 2021
trance
to pour in salted happiness
but how well do I know myself?
Saturday, December 18, 2021
in sight
in afternoon sun
but not the tree-line
like t e e t h
they can reach
we cannot yet speak of
Friday, December 17, 2021
cake chart
A celebratory dinner for my friend AI's successful phd defense. On the table: A big dish of biriyani and sides.
I was so proud of the (store-bought) cake, which said "Congratulations, Dr. I." Obviously, I gave AI the "Dr." part... At got the "Atul" part, Nu got the "Con" part (which they thought it was hilarious because they'd been a sneaky con artist recently).
Thursday, December 16, 2021
bell hooks
I've learned so much from her since my first feminist theory class and I've always had her work in all of the classes I teach. Students love how easy and joyous her work is and how richly rooted in love and community. I gave copies of her All About Love: New Visions to lots of people just last Christmas, including At who fell in love with it.
(And I had to talk myself out of being irritated by people who used uppercase to spell her name in their canned tributes although it felt so disrespectful; and I have to look away from the early death of another black activist; and I'm sitting with Kaye Wise Whitehead's "It is sometimes hard to imagine being in a world when the geniuses of your time are no longer in it.")
Wednesday, December 15, 2021
friends,
they'll just... catch your heart
you'll watch them take it
becoming... tender accounts
starry with sentinels
and yes, shining
Tuesday, December 14, 2021
more perfect (re)unions
Monday, December 13, 2021
next time
me memories
Sunday, December 12, 2021
"an ill wind"
Behold the deceptively calm beginning to a messy weekend.
Yesterday started out at 56° and was supposed to drop 20° over the course of the day, so L and I went down the Red Cedar early despite the wind advisory. The gusts were intense and at one point we thought we were going to get swept into the river. And then we got rained on and sleeted on although there was nothing about that in the weather forecast.
I planned a hot shower as soon as I got home, but first there was kids' breakfasts and then something else came up and before I knew it, the power went out. I paid for my delay with a dry shampoo and an ice-cold shower before the water cut off. And although I got gussied up, as I already lamented, I didn't get to see Hadestown.
The wind brought mayhem to Hagadorn--signs, traffic lights, and electricity poles were down--like on the ground. BWL said power would come back at 8:15 yesterday, and when it didn't we shrugged and got some extra blankets and cuddled up with warm puppies. All night long I could hear utility vehicles and sirens and workers (bless them).
Big A's off for a series of job interviews, and wanted us to go to a hotel, and I was making arrangements for At to house Nu for a bit, but the power thankfully came back in the evening. I'm freshly showered and can finally feel my fingers and toes again.
Six for Saturday
1) Drama in the morning! Nu and Max discovered some grey, eyeless, blobby newborns by the picnic table on their morning walk. We googled to ...
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Friends and old neighbors shutting it down in honor of John Crawford. _
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I have the feeling that I’m going to succumb to the season and put out a list of resolutions soon. Just wanted to establish this heads up th...
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At had us pose for this pic up at Aunt R's place on Lake Huron so he could put it up in his dorm. "Don't tur...