Plan for Tomorrow

This is my plan.  Actual results posted tomorrow.

The Best American Series

I read The Best American Series which is a collection of short stories.  I didn't realize at first that some of the stories were non-fiction so the story about the ecology of the island of Manhattan was throwing me off at first.  I liked this book.   The stories were intriguing and kept my interest going.  I often think I don't like science fiction but my favorite story in this book was science fiction.  In this story an unmarried woman, living with her parents, has a child.  Her child, like many others born in this particular decade, is a cube.  Some babies are cubes, some rhombuses and some pyramids.   Very few children are baby shaped.  She takes her baby cube to the playground and sets it in the sand by the playground equipment with all the other cubes.  She talks to her cube and she plays with her cube.  She feeds her cube by setting it in a dish of breast milk and the cube soaks it in.  The cube grows up and gets larger.  When that decade ends fewer cubes are born and more and more baby shaped babies emerge.  Eventually the cube babies are stored in institutions on shelves.  This was one of the strangest stories I ever read.  Last week I read a real story about a public health emergency in Brazil where a mosquito born illness has resulted in the birth of thousands of babies with microcephaly.  These Brazilian babies will need life long care and support and I might not have thought too much about it if I hadn't just read this science fiction story about cube babies.  I love short stories and I loved this book too.

Last Minute Needle Pointing

I started a needlepoint Christmas stocking for my new grand daughter in October.  I was in a waiting room at a hospital and instead of using the usual masking tape to seal the edges of the fabric I used paper tape.  I remember nurses asking, "Are you going to get that done in time for Christmas? This year?"  I answered confidently, "Yes!  This year.  Of course this year."  Am I done yet?  Even though I devoted most of last weekend to the Christmas stocking am I done yet?  No, I'm not.  I'm not done yet.  Santa is all done.  The bird and the bear and the soldier and the ball and the present are all done.  Just the darkest part of the sky remains from about the rim of Santa's hat on down to his arm remain undone. And sewing the back on the sock is not done.  I am not going to see my grand daughter until 2016 and she won't be to my house until Jan. 3rd so I have scads of time to finish the sky and sew the back on.  Scads of time!  Plus I have to sew her name on it.  Why does she have such a long name?  Ten letters and four syllables!  Her name is longer than Nicholas. I guess I can put the name on later.  Why did I choose such a long project?  Actually, needle pointing this stocking has forced me to sit down, wear my magnifying eye glasses, enjoy the Christmas tree, enjoy the chickadees and blue jays who come to eat out of my window feeder, and center myself.  I could have spent more of that time cleaning the house but oh, well, this seemed more important.  Plus I have learned something.  I haven't done needle pointing in many years.  I think my last project was finished 30 years ago.  But with needle point I can get relaxed and into a good frame of mind and loose track of time so it's a good craft for me.  I'll get it done.  I have scads of time.

Wait, what?

Sometimes in conversations it is hard for me to keep up.  Something is said that I can't comprehend right away so either I get lost or I say, "Wait, what?"  The other day my father was talking about doors.  Thirty inch doors, thirty two inch doors, and thirty four inch doors were mentioned while I'm thinking that I don't know the size of a single door in my entire house.  How can he keep all those door sizes in his head with all the other stuff he knows?  He seems to know the dimensions of all his doors.  He talks about getting a door from a cabin his sister had on Lake Carlos in Alexandria designed by that architect from Wisconsin.  Wait, what?  Are you talking about Frank Lloyd Wright?  "Yeah," he says, "that architect from Wisconsin."  I am sure Wisconsin has many architects.  Not entirely sure that he heard me I repeated, "Frank Lloyd Wright, right?"  He goes on talking about door sizes and I travel back in time to a visit to this cabin. What do I remember? I remember my cousin sitting under the kitchen table eating an entire stick of butter.  I remember my older cousin, a college student, driving a jet boat on the lake.  And most of all I remember their awesome mail box that consisted of a Franklin stove for the bills, a regular letter box for the letters, and a tiny mail box 15 feet up in the air for the air mail. I have always been fond of unusual mailboxes.  I interrupt the door size conversation to ask if he remembers the mailbox (mailboxes).  He responds, "Does a bear sit in the woods?"  Wait, what?  Does he know that is funny because of the other bodily function a bear does in the woods?  I am astounded that my uncle commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design his cabin.  I almost can't believe it.  While we talk about doors Offspring #2 looks it up.  Turns out a man with the same name as my uncle did have a cabin designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  On his property he had an 800 pound gorilla statue that he bought in Mexico and shipped to Alexandria.  Could that gorilla be mistaken for a bear?  Wait, what? This is true.  I think Frank Lloyd Wright would roll over in his grave if he knew there was such a kitschy mailbox outside the cabin he designed on the shore of Lake Carlos.  I know this sounds fantastic but here is a link to the article and a google image of the bear gorilla:

 http://www.alexmn.com/real-estate/5175-County-Road-11-NE-Alexandria-MN-56308-mls_10-13862/

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All I know is I have put visiting this property on Lake Carlos on my to do list the next time I am in that area.

 

Song of the Lark

Willa Clark wrote Song of the Lark and I read it because it's an American classic.  Willa wrotes about a Norwegain family growing up near the sand hills of Nebraska in a small town.  The story revolves around the daughter, Thea who has a talent for singing and playing the piano.  She goes on to leave her home town and take music lessons in Chicago and later is Dresden, Germany.  Personally I liked Thea as a young girl better than the adult Thea.  The young Thea was an adventurous girl about town making friends with the town doctor, a railroad man, and the people on the Mexican side of the tracks.  She loved the sand hills and would talk others into taking her out there for picnics.  I find it interesting to read a book written in 1915 where the protagonist is such a strong feminist figure.  I enjoyed reading about life on the plains 100 years ago.

For Your Listening Pleasure

Somehow the animated score adds to the listening pleasure for me.

Gifts

Many years ago I got a gift from my sister-in-law who lived in Brazil at the time. She gave me a bottle of scent.  I am not a person who wears perfume and I don't like it when other people wear perfume either.  So this bottle, although more than 30 years old, is still half full.  The name of the scent is Eau D'Larc Musc.  I'm not sure if that is Portuguese or not but I know she bought it in Sao Paulo.  I don't think it smells like a lark although the only lark I know is a meadowlark and I have never smelled one of those but only heard them singing to my from the fence posts as I drive past with my windows open in the summer time.  Meadowlarks are such happy birds who sing with their breast struck forward and their mouth wide open. I like to think the meadowlark is singing only for me.  Back to the scent, I do somewhat enjoy the smell.  I use it sparingly.  It comes in a pretty green bottle and I enjoy the package too.  When I do put a dab on in the morning I do it because I need a little more fortitude or confidence that day.  Challenging event ahead?  Dab on a little Eau D'Larc to get through it.  Or, if at the end of the day I feel particularly proud of myself for one reason or another, I will put on a dab before I go to bed.  Maybe I held back a snarky remark that would have gotten nervous laughs but really didn't need to be said.  Most of the time I reward myself it is for keeping my trap shut which says a lot about me and my issues, doesn't it?  My point is, at this time of the year we struggle to find the right gift for each person that expresses our love and appreciation for them.  Gift struggles can stress us out and take away from enjoying the holidays.  The fact of the matter is we never really know when a gift strikes the sweet spot in someone's heart. Even the recipient may not recognize the value of a gift at first.  A gift may take 30 years to ripen in someone's heart.  When it comes to gift giving do your best but be aware you cannot predict what the other person will love and treasure.