Sunday, August 28, 2022

 Sunday, August 28, 2022

      On my morning walk, I ran into someone I hadn’t seen for a while. He had to remind me of his name. I’d gotten used to not remembering. My memory feels different than it did when I was younger. If I couldn’t remember something, I could feel the memory in my brain trying to get the information to my conscious mind. Now, there’s nothing. It’s weird. Bill remembered Elsa’s name but not mine. We exchanged some personal information. He asked me what I did. I told him I tutored. He told me he was a retired high school teacher. I think he taught History and Geography. Yes, I remember him speaking about geography. He said it was amazing how little most people knew about it. While I am hardly a geography whiz, even I am impressed when third-grade children don’t know what the United States is versus their state. That confusion is forgivable here in Hawaii. The nearest state is 6,000 miles away, and Hawaii was a country in the memory of their grandparents. Many Hawaiians still think of it that way. But I found the same problem when I taught on the mainland.

   I went to the 9 a.m. mass. I thought about Mike. I could feel his loving energy pour into me on the left side of my body. Boy, did it ever feel great! I had one of my under-5 mph accidents when I left church.  

  I park in the library parking lot rather than the church parking lot. It takes forever to get in and get out of the latter. I got into my car and backed it out of the parking spot - very slowly. I do everything slowly. It was even two mph. The car stopped abruptly. I thought I had hit the curb. I push on the gas pedal. The car didn’t budge. Then I looked in my rearview mirror.   

       Someone parked a car perpendicularly to the parking space. The space between me and the car was about one lane wide. Who would park behind a row of parked cars? There were other spots available. Nuts. I scanned the passenger side doors in the rearview mirror. The surface of the other car looked uniformly shiny. There was no evidence of a dent. I hadn’t noticed the car when I walked to mine. I hadn’t seen the car in my rearview video. I freaked out. I drove off to Target.

  On the way over there, I called Judy in tears. I was so upset about the accident. I was upset that I might have damaged someone’s car. I was upset that I hadn’t seen it. What was wrong with me?!

   I bought most of what I needed at Target. I was amazed at how much I got for the amount of money I paid for it. The only thing they didn’t have was sauerkraut. I asked the fellow in the produce department. “If we had any, it would be in the freezer with the sour cream. We haven’t had some produce since Covid started. Sorry.”

   I called Judy to ask for a pasta sauce recommendation. Rao is considered the best. I have turkey meatballs in the freezer from when Shivani was here and a craving for spaghetti with tomato sauce. Judy recommended I taste the bottled sauce and add onions and garlic to taste. I have raw and bottled onion, and frozen garlic Shivani left.  

   I had troubling thoughts about that car I hit. How could I have done nothing? That didn’t make sense. I drove back to the parking lot. The car was gone. I figured the person was probably from the church. I would contact the office and leave my name if someone called to complain about someone having hit their car and just left.

  When I got home, I broke up the packages of frozen meat for individual meals before putting them in the freezer. While I never give Elsa seasoned food, I will give her a taste of meat or fish before I salt it. I put the empty packages containing chicken and chopped meat on the floor for her to enjoy. While she worked away, I hung up the clothes I had washed in the morning. When I returned to the kitchen, I saw the yellow Styrofoam chicken packaging bits all over the kitchen floor. How much of it had Elsa ingested? Styrofoam wouldn’t break down; I didn’t worry about poisoning. I worried about a stomach obstruction. I decided not to worry but to be ready to get her to the vet if I saw anything suspicious.

   Judy texted. How damaged was my car from the accident? I hadn’t checked yet. I looked. Nothing, Nada, Nichts! How could this be possible? I figured if my car had no damage, how much could there be on the other one? I stopped worrying- consciously.

   I met with the M & W sisters this afternoon for the first time in over a month. I opened all the files we had been working on. W went first today. Usually, it was M first. W was sitting in a car. The family was in Hilo for a basketball competition W would be playing in. When we finished the session, her dad sat in a nearby car, ready to drive her to the game. She asked to work on the questioning activity. Her mother was sitting there. This activity is rich with learning. However, I have had people attack me when they see what I do because it is unfamiliar. I’ve learned not to count on people appreciating my work. 

  I worked on the Gating Game with M. She is getting much better at anticipating the next word. She gives words that fit in grammatically and semantically.

   I watched That’s Amor on Netflix. Eh! The lead lady performs reasonably well, but she and her male lead have zero chemistry. The plot was formulaic and unbelievable. It was a diversion.