Saturday, March 5, 2022

 Saturday, March 5, 2022

 

I slept well last night. I set aside relationships that troubled me and were not available for an immediate solution. They were not forgotten, just on a back burner, patiently waiting for an opportunity for action. I vote for reconciliation. Unfortunately, not everyone likes that approach. They prefer to bury-the-dead-and-march on approach. It makes us massively incompatible. However, I must say. I did learn to incorporate some of that strategy into my life. Dealing with issues head-on is not always the best.

      This has been an impressively lazy day. I was up to date on my updates, so there was only a little to do. I could have done gardening, but I was too relaxed to get up and move. It's all harder for me than it was when I was younger. Then I loved any excuse to get into action. 

     I did clean the electric switch plates. The light hit the one in the kitchen just right, and I could see the dirt. I grabbed the alcohol spray and hit every switch in the house.

   Judy called while driving to her class at church. It was the one moment she had when her time wasn't scheduled. She went on to tell me why she valued me in her life. She was inspired by Isaac's comment from last night, which I shared with her. Can you imagine being referred to as a 'rare commodity?' It is lovely to know that people value me and value me for what I want to be valued for. Mike was like that. Some people value me- except for. . . those exceptions are people who reject me for core parts of my identity. 

      Come to think of it, I did have that problem with Mike. He hated the way I thought. He studied something for its own sake. He would read Spinoza to understand what he was saying. When I read Spinoza, I read to see if his thinking deepened mine and generated new ideas. What's the point of reading someone if it doesn't improve your life. Otherwise, they're just abstract ideas. I can learn more about a person I know to understand more about them. I can't imagine Spinoza giving a fat rat's ass if I really understand him. He's dead and gone. If there is an afterlife, he has other preoccupations than if someone understands what he was trying to say.

   I did get around to attaching the second hose to the first. On Judy's advice, I bought an expandable garden hose. It's a 50’-foot hose that expands to 100'. That wasn't enough to cover the area from the one spigot in my front yard. I bought a second and then a third by accident. The sprinkler system along the driveway's edge is up and running again. I didn't need it for that. But some of the plants are suffering in this drought. 

     I turned on the hose and watched the hose wriggle like a nest of snakes as the water flowed through. Very weird. However, it's a great system. The hoses never tangle. You don't need to neatly coil them and face the challenge of uncoiling them. They also have a shut-off valve right on the nozzle. I set the flow to a slow dribble to water a desperate bush.

     I met with the M & W sisters this morning. They were late, which rarely happens. When it does, I know something's up. The mom texted me, "They were still eating breakfast. Could we do it at 10 am.?" They're always considerate, and I have the time free. 

    Amazing. Both the girls worked with me while sitting on a hotel room balcony in Hilo. The hotel room was a cousin's with whom they had breakfast. After our sessions, they were going to visit an amazing candy store. Nonetheless, both girls concentrated on their work with me. 

   I continued the Phase I work with first-grade M, but first, she reread the paragraph. She read the word learn with a long e. I tried to get her to read on, in other words, to read the words following learn. The words were how to. If she had read them, that would have clued her into the meaning of the word . While she fought me, she must have done it because she got the word correctly. She moves through the work more quickly. When I ask her if she is doing better in school, she says she doesn't know. I have to tell her I want her evaluation of her progress, not her teachers. Does it seem easier? Do you get stuck less? Are you proud of the way you read something?

   I continued editing the story fifth-grade W dictated to me. It was a complicated one. She had left out a lot of information. It could be better to say she wasn't explicit about the events in the story when she should have been. W hung on while we did this work without feeling heavy-hearted. It was truly amazing.  

   Damon called. Besides talking about money and sharing Judy's comments from this morning, she told me why she likes me. I told Damon his dad had a taste for unusual women. Jean, his first wife, and my hanai sister are radically different in some ways and remarkably alike in others. We are both bright and articulate. We are both mission-driven. We're both outspoken and downright feisty if we have to be. Damon said, "Yes, you're both eccentric." I don't really see it. Everyone is unique if you scratch the surface. I have never met a person I didn't consider unique. People may conform to some cultural standard on the surface, but each is as unique as a snowflake.  

  I just read today that identical twins with the same DNA have different fingerprints. How can that be possible? At birth, they have different fingerprints. Wow!

    I lay down on the couch to read with nothing better to do. My eyes are not what they used to be. Even with my brand-new glasses, the print is blurry. I napped instead. Elsa jumped up to lay on me just as I was ready to get up. She has remarkable timing in that regard. Well, naturally, I couldn't get up then. I spent the next half hour lying there until I had to pee so bad that I had to get up.

   I texted Sandor to remind him to call the woman he knew who did the engraving. He got back to me. She moved to Phoenix. Guess she was not available. He gave the names of the folks I've been in touch with already. Okay, this is the only choice I have. 

   Sandor and I talked about the gravesite. Fr. Lio went from saying he could accommodate any size to saying I had only a 2' by 3' space. I managed to convince him to allow me two of those prefab slabs. 

   This was the last night of Colleen's visit. She needed a place to stay because the one she usually used wasn't available at this time. She comes over once a month to work as an esthetician. She bought Thai food for tonight and invited Yvette. I was very gemutlich, and the food was great. Elsa and I went for a short walk after dark to get my numbers above 5,000. 

  I started watching Pieces of Her. I don't know how long I can watch this. I actually switched to The Marvelous Mrs. Mazel for relief.