Thursday, January 06, 2005

Help me out, dear readers!

I spent much of the afternoon playing with expedia.com. I have a bunch of trips coming up and I was trying to book good fares for all of them. This of course, required careful planning and so I took out my calendar to fit things in neatly and conveniently.

In opening the pages of my date book, I came across this note to self for February 8th:

--> yeah! 03.

I have no idea what this means and I have no recollection of writing it. Is it someone’s birthday? Anniversary? Did I commit to a wedding? A party? It seems festive and spirited, but what is it?? And does it block the week, the day? What's with that arrow? Am I coming home from somewhere? If so, where will I have traveled to? There isn't a departure noted in the days preceding that.

Write and tell me if you know or have any clue as to why February 8th should be in any way significant. You will get such a prize for your efforts! Far better than any old Virtual Kewpie Doll.

Ode to the little one who is leaving all too soon and who went for a hike through the Arboretum with me this morning

(she sings this so beautifully, but this one is for her)

...For you, the sun will be shining,


... Posted by Hello
...To you, I'll give the world
to you, I'll never be cold...


... Posted by Hello

... Posted by Hello
And the songbirds keep singing,
Like they know the score,
And I love you, I love you, I love you,
Like never before,


... Posted by Hello

... Posted by Hello

... Posted by Hello

...like never before. Posted by Hello

Only one person on this planet would keep me company when I asked for it, during a two-week midnight marathon of gymming

…and not make fun of my lesser endurance (which is quite lesser)
…and talk to me when I felt like talking (which was often)
…and let me watch the food channel when I felt like watching the food channel (sorry, it was so interesting!)
…and leave when I was ready to leave (you would have stayed)
…and return the next day, and the next, and the next (no matter how late).

Only one – you know who you are. I wont be able to continue this marathon. It would be too lonely now that you’re off and away. I’ll have to take up fencing or skateboarding or something.


But I’ve loved these days…

Get a load of that snow!

Years of conditioning had me out of bed before dawn to check on school closings. As so many times in the past, all schools reported closings except for Madison’s public schools. There are arguments to be made on both sides of the issue, but they no longer concern me. It was merely a point of curiosity. And I was anxious to play the role of the benevolent neighbor, the one without kids needing to rush to make it to school and without my own pressing time issues. I wanted to repay past favors and shovel sidewalks of proximate kind souls.

[Blogger ethics are nothing compared to intricate shoveling ethics: you absolutely are the rudest person if you stop at your property line and do not shovel up to the neighbor’s driveway – like my neighbors to the south who are considered utter pariahs for their selfish property-guided shoveling practices. And, if you have time, you shovel your neighbor’s walk. If you are feeling so generous that your heart is bursting at the seams, you may, every two winter seasons or so, do the walkway up to their door as well. But you are never ever obligated to touch their driveway, unless they are elderly or feeble or incapacitated. Otherwise, shoveling someone’s driveway is an embarrassment of riches – you’re overstepping the boundaries of camaraderie.]

I was too late. The sun had not yet risen, but the shovelers were out there already and so we shoveled en masse, with jocular shouts to each other, in the way guys talk when they are trying to be friendly. Yes, that’s right, guys. For shoveling has remained a task for men. Guys grill and guys shovel. That’s just the way it is in America. [Before I get barraged with emails telling me I am grossly exaggerating, let me just say that I am simply reporting what happens around me: absolutely no woman shovels on our long block if there is a guy in the house. This is true even though in three households we have stay-at-home (or work at home) dads and in most households both the man and woman work.]

It took an hour to clear the walkways and driveway. Posted by Hello