Em’s Neighborhood

I ordered new carpet today for all the bedrooms and Ben's office.
They will start on Tues. By then I should also have received the guest bedroom furniture and Ben's office furniture!
Once the carpet is in , and furniture put together and in place I'LL BE DONE!

Well, I'll still have things I'll want to add to the house, but we will be waiting till spring to do those since they are all outside!

Photos will follow carpet and furniture - I promise.

The poppy is an uncomplicated creature.  It has one color.  It is not parasitic or solitary.  It grows simply, and in groups, like schoolchildren.

But its symbolism is rich, with a magnitude that has spanned many countries, and many centuries.  For such a little flower it carries meanings that are vast and weary; that are eternal and quiet in the earth.

In Greece and Rome the poppy meant sleep and death - worlds beneath the cold eyelid.  Opium was extruded from its seeds and sleepy breaths colored ancient dens and palaces.  Poppies decorated the tombstones of their dead, welcoming the lengthy sleep.  In Persian literature, the poppy is called the eternal flower - for emotions unrelenting and without end; for loyalty without limit.

The poppy fields in The Wizard of Oz were billowing and fearsome, promising an everlasting sleep.  In Egypt opium was daubed on the neck and wrists like a hypnotic perfume.

It wasn't until 1915 that the significance of the little red flower passed into Europe as well, when the ground was already red.  Towards the end of the year a poem was published - a trifle sentimental, a little maudlin, as most affairs of the heart are - and its beginning is familiar:

"In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row...

The fragrant drops of blood growing amongst the white purity must have been a shocking sight to the soldier; in a poem it might be less awful but no less meaningful.  The poppy had become a part of their spoiled landscape.

"That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below

1915 was a terrible year.  Gallipoli - Ypres - Nueve Chapelle - Loos - The Battles of the Isonzo...the poppies must have shuddered in the stinging breeze.

"We are the dead.  Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields

When the war was over, and the hardness and the bitternress had set in, the poppy had adopted another symbol - the four blasted years that had called the Edwardians in from their play, that had rubbed the gilt off the lily.  Its brave, bloody image was burnt on the dying soldier's eyes.

On Veteran's Dan/Remembrance Day the popppy is worn, sewn into wreaths, displayed in houses (Aubrey does this):  it is still held high.

"Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields"

 

 

Last night I had a dream, the second of a new theme. In this dream my grandma (who died of cancer in 1983) has come back to life or reappeared from wherever she'd been hiding. I conjectured perhaps she had been in an induced coma all this time, until they finally cured her. And when she comes back home, my grandpa gets his mind back. This is the new recurring theme. Grandpa Frank has alzheimer's and every time I see him there's a bit less of him there. But in my dream world he goes back to his old grumpy yet good-humored and almost entirely sane self. When grandma comes home.

Their house is the childhood home base that my dreams seem to seek out by default. I never feel safe or happy there in my dreams. There are often problems with the plumbing and the lock on the bathroom door. The main plot point in this particular dream is the appearance of Adolf, one of grandma's long-dead cats. I look out the kitchen window and see him sitting in the middle of the dirt yard where grandpa now keeps his backhoe. I recognize his crooked Hitler mustache. He is bigger and rounder than any non-dream housecat. I announce to grandma that Adolf came home and open the door for him. He rushes inside out of the bitter cold and I sit on the kitchen floor where he uncharacteristically snuggles up on my lap (he was a weird, unfriendly cat). I realize with  low-level concern that he is way older than cats are supposed to live. I ask grandma, "When was Adolf born?" She tells me, "45 weeks after your cousin." Even in dream math I realize this is simply not possible. My cousin was born in 1973.... which would make this dream cat over 30 years old. This reasoning launches me toward consciousness, where grandma is still dead and grandpa will never be sane again.

Another theme often found in my dreams: Moving in with my mom in some unfamiliar place that always has complex architecture and more rooms than one would think. The last dream like this was last week, and she and I had moved into an apartment complex much like the one I live in now. In this dream the multitude of rooms we share are spread over two units on opposite sides of the hall (and yet it is still somehow one apartment). It dawns on me that if we divide the space it could be almost like having my own apartment, and I go down the hall to suggest this plan. I find mom has gone insane and is making a variety of loud cat noises. This is not altogether improbable in real life. I try to talk to her quietly and rationally, but she continues to make cat noises. There are a bunch of young women neighbors who come over to help her (wearing fuzzy slippers and pink bathrobes). I decide I can be of no help and lock myself in the other apartment.

I was walking home - desperately - from work one day, shuddering with my disinterest, when I looked up and saw a simple composition floating in the impatient sky.  All of the elements were ruled by astronomy, so as each second passed, they were shifted by a celestial sleight-of-hand.

I saw a crescent moon, hanging in the sky like a slice from a ghostly fruit.  A rag of cloud, the color of sweetness - apricots, irises - was pulled across the pale lunar fraction.  The sky was a gentle product of the negotiation between daylight and sunset:  a lavender agreement.

The sky assembles visions like this every evening.  It is common drink.  But I would dare anyone to take a sip from this vignette ordinaire and not return home happy and reeling.

I've manage to catch some sort of plague-like infection and it's totally put a damper on my weekend. What I had intended to be a weekend filled with working on short story has turned into nothing but whining and coughing and sleeping and sobbing.

In general, I'm kind of a crybaby. Even on my very best days. When I get sick, I'm leveled. I sobbed through a "Roseanne" marathon this morning, and because that wasn't quite enough I decided to watch the original "V" I TIVO'd last weekend, and cried through a lot of that too. "The Amazing Race" too.

I didn't cry during "The Maltese Falcon" though, perhaps that's progress.

Read a fucking book, you're probably thinking. I thought that too, but the pressure and burning in my eyes made reading nearly impossible. In fact, I tried and gave up because it just wasn't working for me. Some people are really good at working through the sickness. I'm not one of those people. My brain doesn't function well when I have a cold. It just feels slower and filled with mud. I try to think, but fail miserable. I don't get jokes and barely understand what people are saying to me. It's not good. Really, all I'm capable of is laying around being generally unhappy and whining about how much being sick sucks.

It does suck. I'm going to bed.

• Ben and I rode our motorcycles south and east through a bit of Amish country. Hills and curves OH MY!
  
• Finished painting front door "wild currant" - but still to tacky to hang back up.
• Finished painting the halls, the guest bedrooms, the offices, the kitchen, the sun room and entry. (thanks to Pat, Carol and Pete)
• Ordered new office furniture for Ben - I'll be pulling pieces from his office to make mine work better.
• Wired more of the house for TV cable and internet (thanks to Andy and Steve).
• Tomorrow I pick up the last of the family room furniture and talk to the carpet folks about new carpet for Ben's office and all the bedrooms (Ben gets brown, bedrooms get beige)
  
• Put together one of two side tables for our bedroom (they match patty's lights) and have another for living room
• Have an order holding on Overstock for the "couples" guest bedroom - holding out for the bed frame I want.
• Cleaned up the kitchen from the 4 days of painting and home projects
• Fixed the lighting in the entry, sun room

And when all done, I was able to cook dinner and eat with Benny! I have decided to "master" the electric cooktop before pulling it out and replacing it! I did not burn dinner! Hurray!

So you know, I miss

• My kids
• My girlfriends
• Whole Foods (especially the soaps and salad bar)
• Sushi
• Trader Joes (especially the frozen foods)
• San Francisco (in general)
• The beach (even through I did not get there often)
• My kids (again, because I really really wish they could come visit my new home!)
• And all our CA friends - Too many to list y'all - but you know who you are.
  

I'm headed back to CA to see Cas graduate in Dec and spend time with my girlfriends - then bringing Aaron back here with me for a bit. I am looking forward to it!

Yes, I am taking time to enjoy the new house.

Right now I am in the family room, on the new leather sectional  with Abby on my feet watching TV - drinking a fine chardonnay (from CA) and enjoying the peace and quite this space brings me. Ben is with his friend John in his office (next to the family room) but with the doors shut I can't hear them.

It snowed a bit 2 days ago - Ben and I ran into this room and watched the flakes fall. We hugged and kissed and wished for a bit more to fall, but then it warmed up. It's been sunny and warm since. We would go riding, but too much to do to the house.

Today I brought home carpet samples - we picked and they come to measure on Monday.

Ben and his buddy's spent hours under the house rewiring for TV and interent. I hear the crawl spaces are carpeted and well lit!

I think the most amazing part of our being here is having people come to help us . Ben's family was here for 3 days helping us paint. His friends came today to help wire. We are going to an early thanksgiving at Ben's uncle's home. My mom drops in to see what's new and I stop in to her home and take her with for shopping and lunch. My sis and her husband have helped us set up the washer dryer, moved the freezer down stairs etc

We are nesting and I love it.

I have to leave soon to bring my ailing Ruby to Ben's to see if he can't figure out what is wrong with her. But before I go, I had to wish a heartfelt congratulations to Dabysan and CarrieNation, who are getting married today. 

If you could only drink one beverage for the rest of your life (not including water), which one would you choose?

Is it me or have all of the “questions of the day” started sounding more like market research questions from some mega tween advertising agency and not from actual VOX users? Did VOX make a deal with the devil in order to pay the bills? HMMmmmm.

OK, here goes another liberry rant.

There are signs ALL over the library stating no food or drinks allowed yet every day I see stupid people with drinks and snacks chomping away right next to one of these 50 or so signs. I guess they are all in the library to brush up on their “how to read a sign and follow directions” skills. Anyway, none of them are as bad as the girl that either sits at the table across the isle from me or behind me every day. She eats SO much food while she’s doing her home work that I’ll call her “Chester the Horse” because she sounds like a horse chewing grass behind me; a horse that is eating grass that is wrapped in cellophane packages. I swear it looks like she has a whole friggin 7-Eleven crammed in her bag. I am surprised she isn’t carrying one of those slushy machines on her back so she can get a frosty beverage when the need arises. Every day she eats the same thing too. The list is as follows:

 

1- Apple

1 – Package of cheese crackers

1 – Cookie

1 – Small bag of carrots

1 – Bottle of water - which you would think had a nipple on the end of it because she doesn’t just drink from her bottle, she sucks the water out and makes loud slurping noises while she does it. Every time I get distracted by the slurping and look, I get a dirty look in return like “what I’m just trying to make a vacuum, what’s the problem”.

 

I know it looks like I pay way too much attention to this breaker of the rules but how can I not? She makes so many chomping, crackling, slurping, gurgling, smacking, burping, dripping and sucking noises I can’t believe the rest of the people around me aren’t watching the spectacle as well. She reminds me of a granola version of the orange chicken massacre I saw back at De Anza. They both had the same eating habits accept this one makes a lot more noise and is currently chewing her cud right under a no food or drink sign. Am I the only one who makes these observations? Why am I so fascinated with the quirks of others? Yes, some people irritate me right off the bat but the rest I have to just stop and watch for a bit. Some times I feel like the world is just a big aquarium and I am following the big school of fish in the middle called the general public…..and occasionally tapping on the glass.