I wore the wrong boots this morning. It was super icey and while walking my beagle dog I fell right on my left arm. OUCH. As I write this I guess I should be glad that I did not fall on my right arm.
Anyway, it hurts and I think something might be broken. Will go get an Xray in a few days if it still hurts.
When I fell Flora ran away! Then she came back. This dog is just too much! I feel like she should have at least licked me.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
End of the year reckonings
I am not sure what this says about me, but when I assess the year, I feel as if the events of the world were much more captivating or interesting than anything that happened in my own life. I have never felt this way before.
My year has not been uneventful. I sold my condo and moved back to the midwest after twenty years in California. I gave up tremendous quasi governmental benefits to work for a scrappy non-profit after surviving cancer, Friends died, relatives died, and a black man was elected president.
Do you see what I mean? How can anything in my life seem remarkable after america voted Barack Obama into the oval office?
I do not see Mr. Obama as the second coming. But I have to admit that I never thought I would see a black family move into the white house IN MY LIFETIME. I do not subscribe to the belief that "racism is over" but I do think that this historic election has caused a sea change in how we can dream.
Our economy is in a shambles. As a professional cynic, I am sure that I would have predicted capitalism to fall so spectacularly but what I really treasure is how many people (including our current president) fail to admit it.
Our nut case governor and the Ponzi scheme would be much less interesting to me if they were stand alones. As in the only thing that Jon Stewart could milk for months on end. But geez, this kind of jaw dropping news seems to come to us on a weekly basis. And I really don't even know what is going on in the rest of the world.
But let's bring it back to me. I know it has been seven months but I still can't believe I live here.
Summer was a wonder. Maybe one of the happiest summers of my life. Chicago in the summer is magical. I am confident that there are very few places on earth that do summer like Chicago does summer.
Fall and winter have been a neverending series of revelations and rememberances. There are so many things I had forgotten about surviving cold, dark, and snowy days. It startles me how weather reminds me of people and places and long forgotten feelings.
Having a dog in this climate has been a mixed blessing. I like having someone around who wakes me up and pulls me out of bed, even if that someone is a bit of a winter slug after bounding out of bed at sunrise in the summer. I actually like having to walk my dog in the mornings. It warms me up for the day and acquaints me as to how cold it is and how wild the wind is whipping.
It is all about how you dress. I consider it a personal challenge each day to wear the right clothes for the weather, especially the right coat, the right hat and the right boots. Some days the Uggs are perfect. Other days I MUST have rubber boots because the water is inches deep at each curb. I love telling myself at the end of the day that I GOT IT RIGHT I wore the right coat and boots and thank them by setting them next to my mega heater.
My heater! I do not know who loves it more, me or Flora. This thing is huge, powerful, and the kind of thing that you would only find in the midwest. I love how it blasts heat and keeps the floor warm. Flora hangs out by it so I moved her bed over.
Gloves or mittons are another challenge. Since moving to Chicago I have bought four hats, three pairs of gloves, and one scarf. So far I have lost two gloves. Not from the same pair of course. It is a small miracle that I have not lost any hats. It is so easy to drop this stuff. I see gloves and mittons on the ground everywhere. I want to pick them all up and keep them in a box and then see if I ever get a matching pair. But when I see a glove on the ground I have a quandry. What is If I picked it up not knowing that someone was doubling back to get it?
My year has not been uneventful. I sold my condo and moved back to the midwest after twenty years in California. I gave up tremendous quasi governmental benefits to work for a scrappy non-profit after surviving cancer, Friends died, relatives died, and a black man was elected president.
Do you see what I mean? How can anything in my life seem remarkable after america voted Barack Obama into the oval office?
I do not see Mr. Obama as the second coming. But I have to admit that I never thought I would see a black family move into the white house IN MY LIFETIME. I do not subscribe to the belief that "racism is over" but I do think that this historic election has caused a sea change in how we can dream.
Our economy is in a shambles. As a professional cynic, I am sure that I would have predicted capitalism to fall so spectacularly but what I really treasure is how many people (including our current president) fail to admit it.
Our nut case governor and the Ponzi scheme would be much less interesting to me if they were stand alones. As in the only thing that Jon Stewart could milk for months on end. But geez, this kind of jaw dropping news seems to come to us on a weekly basis. And I really don't even know what is going on in the rest of the world.
But let's bring it back to me. I know it has been seven months but I still can't believe I live here.
Summer was a wonder. Maybe one of the happiest summers of my life. Chicago in the summer is magical. I am confident that there are very few places on earth that do summer like Chicago does summer.
Fall and winter have been a neverending series of revelations and rememberances. There are so many things I had forgotten about surviving cold, dark, and snowy days. It startles me how weather reminds me of people and places and long forgotten feelings.
Having a dog in this climate has been a mixed blessing. I like having someone around who wakes me up and pulls me out of bed, even if that someone is a bit of a winter slug after bounding out of bed at sunrise in the summer. I actually like having to walk my dog in the mornings. It warms me up for the day and acquaints me as to how cold it is and how wild the wind is whipping.
It is all about how you dress. I consider it a personal challenge each day to wear the right clothes for the weather, especially the right coat, the right hat and the right boots. Some days the Uggs are perfect. Other days I MUST have rubber boots because the water is inches deep at each curb. I love telling myself at the end of the day that I GOT IT RIGHT I wore the right coat and boots and thank them by setting them next to my mega heater.
My heater! I do not know who loves it more, me or Flora. This thing is huge, powerful, and the kind of thing that you would only find in the midwest. I love how it blasts heat and keeps the floor warm. Flora hangs out by it so I moved her bed over.
Gloves or mittons are another challenge. Since moving to Chicago I have bought four hats, three pairs of gloves, and one scarf. So far I have lost two gloves. Not from the same pair of course. It is a small miracle that I have not lost any hats. It is so easy to drop this stuff. I see gloves and mittons on the ground everywhere. I want to pick them all up and keep them in a box and then see if I ever get a matching pair. But when I see a glove on the ground I have a quandry. What is If I picked it up not knowing that someone was doubling back to get it?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
