Heaviness


A warm, wet day. The air is heavy with the scent of the plum trees and the rumors of war. A phone solicitor wakes us up at the ungodly (for a weekend) hour of 8AM. While AJM is making the coffee, I see a possum in the yard. I’m glad to see it dash safely across the street (without getting hit by a car) on its way to East Bouldin Creek.

We sit, in our pajamas, reading the news online as we drink our coffee and joke about duct tape. No amount would make this house air-tight. But then the first thing AJM reads is a caution from government officials against overreacting to the heightened alert.

I dress, start a load of laundry, walk around the garden, and wash last night’s dishes and still AJM’s not off the computer. It’s after 10AM before we are finally on our way to Central Market for this week’s groceries. I decide to buy a case of wine so that I can get the 10 per cent discount. I get AJM to help me remember the prices, because I’ve been overcharged before. Sure enough, the German mulled wine (wonderful sipped on a cold night in front of the fire) which was on sale for $4.99 rang up as $8.99.

When we get home, I offer to put away the groceries as an incentive for AJM to make a second round of coffee to go with the almond kringle. Then I go weed in the garden and AJM continues working on the bookshelves. The door construction is giving him headaches. At one point he’s so disgusted with it that he comes out to the yard to help pull goose grass. I can’t remember the last time he helped me in the yard. He used to insist on a tour every day but now he rarely ever goes out there.

I take JQS to work at 14:45. Some “to do” is happening at the Palmer Events Center down the street, and as usual people who want to avoid the $7.00 parking fee have parked along our street, making it impossible to see traffic in either direction as I back out of our driveway.

When I get home, it feels colder than ever and I don’t feel much like working outside. The wind chimes sound out a melancholy tune announcing the cold front. We decide to catch the 17:10 screening of The Quiet American but when we get to the theater, the parking lot is packed so we just drive on. As a consolation, we stop by Half-Price books, but that is also a disappointment.

I try to study Japanese for awhile, but then decide to surf instead. AJM has been on the computer for the last two hours. Maybe I can get talk him into watching another episode of Farscape with me.