(no subject)
I sat in the laundry-mat sipping coffee and nibbling a donut, enjoying the heat and reading Le Guin.
Last week was fierce cold. Wednesday we were hustling in the muck to get the post-hole ready. Thursday was the coldest, as Roach and I were left alone to connect all the lengths of metal fence and the winds just whipped down the escarpment, over the pond and right through us. When I got home that night nothing I did warmed me. Friday was only a little milder combined with two pairs of long-johns but ended in frustration because our task was left uncompleted. In the morning it seemed we would finish all the fence by day's end, but were set back when we had to pre-drill all the holes twice and then still push to get the self-tapping screws into the metal brackets. At the end of the day we found out we only had ten minutes to go to the other side of farm and through as many lengths into the trailer as we could. I conciliated myself with an excellent veggie-Mediterranean pizza from the deli. Saturday T&B helped sand and spackle the bathroom, paint the claw-foot tub and cut-in the hallway. We re-convened that night to watch videos and sip chocolate liqueurs.
Back at the laundry-mat I was feeling centered. I realized that I've felt more centered for quite awhile, even over the past few weeks. My complaints and frustrations are all like something outside the window. They're just something I'm observing and can be sardonic about. The weekends help remind me the draft is coming from the outside, not the inside, and I can step back a little farther and see all the other pictures on the wall and warm up a bit.
Last week was fierce cold. Wednesday we were hustling in the muck to get the post-hole ready. Thursday was the coldest, as Roach and I were left alone to connect all the lengths of metal fence and the winds just whipped down the escarpment, over the pond and right through us. When I got home that night nothing I did warmed me. Friday was only a little milder combined with two pairs of long-johns but ended in frustration because our task was left uncompleted. In the morning it seemed we would finish all the fence by day's end, but were set back when we had to pre-drill all the holes twice and then still push to get the self-tapping screws into the metal brackets. At the end of the day we found out we only had ten minutes to go to the other side of farm and through as many lengths into the trailer as we could. I conciliated myself with an excellent veggie-Mediterranean pizza from the deli. Saturday T&B helped sand and spackle the bathroom, paint the claw-foot tub and cut-in the hallway. We re-convened that night to watch videos and sip chocolate liqueurs.
Back at the laundry-mat I was feeling centered. I realized that I've felt more centered for quite awhile, even over the past few weeks. My complaints and frustrations are all like something outside the window. They're just something I'm observing and can be sardonic about. The weekends help remind me the draft is coming from the outside, not the inside, and I can step back a little farther and see all the other pictures on the wall and warm up a bit.