Today I...

I don't know how many of you listen to The Diane Rehm Show on NPR, but I love it and listen to it almost every day.  So yesterday, Diane was interviewing a novelist named Heidi Julavits about her new book, "The Folded Clock".  It is, in fact, a diary:  a compilation of entries Julavits kept over the course of a year or two.  She read several passages and I was blown away by the beauty of her writing. 

She spoke movingly about the desire to take a moment at the end of each day to acknowledge that day and find something to make it stand out from the collection of days before and after.  She called it "a type of meditation".  This resonated with me.   She said that it helped her to encapsulate her thoughts by starting off each entry with, "Today I". 

Today I had interesting phone calls. 

My friend Cliff called me, baffled by a call he received from a woman he had casually dated a couple of years ago.  He wanted my opinion on the matter, because this woman was a student at my school when she and Cliff met.  Like that gives me any insight.  The last time they met for coffee, she told him that she was in love with a man; that she had just had a baby girl.  That must have been about two years ago.  Why did she call him out of the blue and ask if he wanted to get together for coffee now?  Well Cliff, my guess is that she has broken up with her guy  and is interested in seeing if you are available.  I asked him whether he was still interested in dating her.  He declared, "that ship has sailed".  Just as well.

Then I had a call from my cousin Anita.  She is coming up to Salt Lake from Phoenix next weekend for the wedding of her youngest son.  When I heard she was coming, I asked her if she wanted to stay with me; but she told me she planned to stay in Provo with her middle son.  She was looking forward to that:  she has a brand new baby grandson there she wants to see.  And she wants to spend more time with her daughter-in-law, who she says is a little stand-off-ish with her.  She called me this evening, though, to take me up on my offer.  Her middle son has found out that she smokes marijuana, and said that he can't have her in his home.  I pointed out that this is understandable.  Why not just leave the weed at home?That was not the problem.  She isn't welcome in his home because she HAS smoked it. Therefore he doesn't want her in proximity to his family.  Judgemental little twit.  Punitive, unctuous, Utah County stuffed shirt.  I told her to bring her swim suit so we could soak in the hot tub and that we would have a great time. 

Chuck is home tomorrow, and I can't wait to see him.  I am being mocked by my friends, who agree that a week without the husband is paradise.  I know it is pathetic to miss him - actually, I think part of it is that he's not just gone.  He's GONE.  Off the grid.  So it isn't like I can call him or text or anything.  I haven't heard a thing in a week.  That's different! 

The wind must be picking up again.  I can hear the house starting to creak.  Bed!