Stuffed animals filled the stairs.
A dark blanket hung at the bottom.
Instant amphitheater.
䷦䷑
obstructions
a stage
friends come
-
The play was a rambling drama about Daddy Bear forgetting his name.
-
He surgically ate the meat and rice.
Skipping veggies cost him a week of snacks.
Sister cheered him up.
Momma was still angry.
She cheered him down.䷷䷢
the wanderer’s inn burns down
ice cream seven days away -
We walked among the masses.
Monday night makes for a quieter halloween.
We masked up and strolled through the neighborhood.
Three years after the last time, bitterly cold then.
Pleasant tonight.
Re-entering the land of the living.
On a night for the dead.䷁
the earth’s condition is receptive devotion
ghosts of dogs, rabbits, and carrots spring out of pumpkins -
I voted!
Yesterday, I dropped off our mail-in ballots at an early voting station.
At my building!
In the double sized classroom with an operable partition.
So cool to partake in its civic life.
There.
But life doesn’t just hand out W’s.
I was only there to diagnose lingering problems.
I’ve learned to savor the little victories.
Whatever reason why I’m there.
One day, I’ll visit just to visit.
No ballots; no problems.䷙䷊
one attains the way of heaven
slogging through the swamp -
Puppy Dog Pals (with Olivia) watch Toy Story 2, Lasseter, Branon, Unkrich, 1999.
He finished his mask for Halloween.
I cut the paper.
He insisted that she draw and color.
She drew more characters, taped to popsicle sticks.
They held up their new friends so they could watch a movie.
Later that night, he asked me to add a cat for their collection.
She said it was the strangest drawing ever.䷱䷴
The movie was fun.
Not an absolute classic like the first one, but still very good.
It was ambitious of them to push into the wider world with more human characters.
The Cleaner scene and the Jessie montage are top-notch. -
Blue plastic containers meandered down the hill.
The great Saturday wind swept our trash cans away.
(Fortunately they had already been emptied!)
I spent half an hour peeking into dislocated receptacles around the neighborhood.
No luck.
Sunday, our trash can showed up in a side yard around the corner.
It was paired with a second trash can with a blue lid.
(the spot had been occupied by a trash can with a black lid.)
Monday, I grabbed a recycling bin at the bottom of the hill.
It wasn’t ours, but the markings were unclear.
After two days, I guess its owners preferred our old recycling bin.䷬䷁
sublime and enduring perseverance is needed
but any box will do the job -
A slight delay transmogrified into a mountain of intemperate grievance.
He was crying over nothing.
Inconsolable.
The boy has a bad temper.
I picked him up and sang the song.
小宝宝去睡觉
(little precious go to sleep).
The one they hate and never worked.
He’s getting long.
I don’t have many chances.䷾䷞
water over fire
tears sting in the smoke -
Mashing buttons on the phone, he stole one of my monthly twenty.
He typed random words in the Hoopla search bar
“NU …..”
Chose the album with a dog on the cover.
I Got a Dog
Pressed “Borrow”.
This week, we have trippy electronica.䷇
thus the kings of antiquity
bestowed the different states as fiefs -
An empty room is an open stage.
The kids reenacted the The Nightmare Before Christmas.
The soundtrack played on the phone.
A white cape designated Jack (and played Santa’s beard).
The foam roller stood as the Christmas tree;
Books became boxes of presents.
They popped in and out of the closet, swapping roles.
She directed me to roll two stacked yoga balls as Oogie Boogie.䷪䷞
mighty in the forward-striding toes
-
Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl, 1946
I see why this book is so widely read.
It starts as a memoir of life in the concentration camps and ends with the catharsis of logotherapy.
I have no idea whether logotherapy works, though it sure sounds truthy, especially coming from one who has survived so much trauma.
So that leaves us the memoir. And what is there to say? Holy hell, we have some evil people and evil systems in this world. I hope I’m not complicit in the worst of such systems right now.
The other thought came from the date of publication, one year after the end of the war. It’s amazing how quickly societies bounce back from the abyss. We’re really good at forgetting the past and moving on as if nothing has happened.
If someone else was crushed yesterday, what is it to me? Today or tomorrow? It’s a cold world.
Maybe logotherapy is the answer.