The Never Normal

Remember when I said I was going to get through the winter  without using lights and my thermostat set as low as I could safely manage it?  Well, damnit, I did it.  And now, for further fun and self-flagellation, I’m attempting to go all summer without putting the A/C unit in the window.  It was 82 degrees in my house yesterday.

It all involves very little clothing, drapes closed, and a big fan.

I have a pleasantly cool, finished basement where my two new kitties and I can escape (Almanzo never returned, and I waited until my heart was ready to take in another animal companion).  The cats are 3 years old and had been surrendered at the Mohawk-Hudson Humane Society a week before.  I didn’t really want two, but they are sisters and I didn’t want to separate them.  I’ve named them Laura Bess and Gracie – after guess who?

They are very nearly identical….white with graffiti-sprayed gray atop their heads.  I put a collar on Gracie just to tell them apart, though Gracie’s bigger and usually now I can tell who is who.

Laura Ingalls Wilder was a little thing, after all — just 4’11”.

And what of Boo?  He is himself.  He is navigating his world the best he can, and we along with him.  A sudden, explosive outburst at his father – when Andy told me on the phone, I nearly threw up.   Jonah attacking him, causing scratches, bruises, bleeding.  Chunks of hair pulled out.   I wasn’t there and I don’t even know exactly what happened, but I’ve seen it all enough to imagine…

…and I don’t want to imagine and I never want to have that happen to anyone again and there isn’t a damn thing any of us can do about it.

I spend a lot of time in the woods.  A lot of time alone.

I remain afraid of my son.  I’d love to watch him swim, watch him sleep again.  I never get to watch him sleep.  Strange, the pieces of my mama-life I miss the most.  Small memories.  Momentpieces.

Everything is as it is.  I am beginning a meditation practice with Tim, daily, though he is in Indiana and I here.  I have lost my practice and need to regain the refreshing supply of mindfulness which comes from sitting in silence and outside of time.   Most recently we visited for nearly 2 1/2 weeks together both in Bloomington, Indiana (where he lives) and San Diego, California (where he is from, and where we stayed – where I got to meet his mom and her husband, Chris).  Here are some photos, of us — and of course, of Boo.

Love on the Pacific Coast

putting on his socks and shoes

And much silliness:

“The best things in life are silly.”

~ Scott Adams