Monday, May 16, 2016

A robin is singing so loudly. He is even drowning out the baby crows.

The azalea has burst into extravagant bloom. The temperature is 34 degrees. My son has graduated from college.

That robin is still singing--sweet-shrill, piercing, insistent. Listen to me listen to me listen to me.

I am listening but I am tired, tired, tired. At 11, 1, 3, 5, the dog woke me up. She was thirsty, she was confused, she had to pee, she had to pace, where is Tom, where am I, wake up, wake up. Meanwhile, the cat attached himself to my knees like a vacuum-powered leech.

Today will be bread baking and rain and a track meet and groceries and working on Frost Place stuff. Today will be this endless robin and a ticking clock. What shall I do with my self?

Recommended recipe: Freshly cut fiddleheads, lightly steamed and drained, combined with cubes of drained, pressed, stir-fried tofu, freshly cut green onions, roasted cherry tomatoes, hot pepper flakes, sesame oil, tamari and served over cooked farro. Paul and I ate it last week, and tonight we're eating it again.

Recommended reading: Louisa May Alcott's Eight Cousins--sentimental, didactic, transcendental, and strangely invigorating. I have no idea why her children's novels make me feel better, but they always do.

Recommended listening: The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back." A song that never grows old . . . and here's an enjoyable version involving costumes that look like a home-ec project.


2 comments:

Carlene said...

Eight Cousins and, it's emotionally-related relative The Secret Garden, were my two go-to re-reads for most of my childhood. I have a special fondness, I guess, for small, smart, displaced little girls who finally find a sense of "home."

Ruth said...

What Katy Did and all the other What Katy Did at________ books by Susan Coolidge were my go-to books. I still read them from time to time.