ismo

Last week was a rough one. Saturday and Sunday we had stuff going on and were tired out by evening. On Saturday, the Dante book club met--fortunately, not at our house, because I really was not up for that. We went to the farmers market in the morning and got a jar of lard for pie crusts and a package of meats from our favorite farm lady. I also got a large amount of fresh spinach from one of the organic farms. I was detailed to make a salad for the Dante dinner. Washing and chopping the spinach was more of a process than I anticipated. Then I sauteed some shallots and pecans in a nice olive oil and wilted the spinach with it, and added chopped oranges. I thought it was pretty tasty, but we had a lot left over. However, the Sparrowhawk really likes it, so that's no disadvantage. Yesterday we had it for lunch, with the addition of some egg salad and cottage cheese. But I digress.

We had an interesting new experience Saturday afternoon. We were just sitting there trying to take it easy, when a tremendous rumbling sounded from above, followed by a series of crashes that shook the whole house. I jumped up and ran around trying to figure out what just happened. I looked out of the upstairs window, and found that half a dozen ENORMOUS boulders of ice had rolled down the roof from somewhere up above, and crashed onto the flat roof of the addition at the back of the house. On their way down, they tore part of the brand new gutters off the eaves. It seems the warming temperatures were not an unalloyed blessing . . . . When we got to the Dante meeting, we heard a similar story from Fearless Leader. At his house, an old one like ours, the rolling ice blocks crashed onto his deck, where they bashed a hole in it and shattered the glass patio table. This winter has brought ever new and more ingenious indignities upon us!

Fearless Leader had a recent birthday--strangely, the same day as my brother--so we had some talk around the dinner table about birthdays and decades and how people feel about them. Another member had recently turned 50. He said that one of the hardest things about that birthday for him was the realization that he was never going to be able to make everything right. There were things he just would not be able to do. This is an appalling revelation, whenever it comes, and I felt so much sympathy for him. I talked to Queenie this morning, and we shared how brutal last week was for us, because of losing Mr. Science and all the other pain enchained with that. Nothing can fix it, but it helps to have someone who understands.

After I hung up with her, I had to return to the dentist for a filling. My dentist is very good, but for some reason, this procedure really got to me. I had to tell them to take OUT the rubber dam that they put in to keep your jaws open, because it made me feel as if I couldn't breathe. While the anaesthetic was taking effect, I sneezed several times, so then I was worried I'd start sneezing during the filling. They can handle this, I am sure, but it caused me anxiety. Anyway, I didn't sneeze! The anaesthetic affected me weirdly and made me very shaky, and when it wore off, my jaw ached. I crept home and partially recuperated in time to meet with the roofer and sign up for a new roof that will cost buckets of money, and last until we are 102. This, too, causes anxiety. I sometimes wonder about the wisdom of fixing and renewing my house, when I can't do the same for my body! They will also fix the damage caused by the ice avalanche, and hopefully their improvements will diminish the chances of that ever happening again.

I then had a pre-scheduled Zoom with Moonmoth and the Nonesuch where I felt I was not up to my usual standards. It only just occurred to me that I could have had a stiff drink! Perhaps I should have tried that. But now it is too late, and I will have to wander through the gate of ivory into the Somnium Saloon and coax Morpheus to mix me a cocktail of dreams.