Thankful today for
a bright blue sky, plenty of sunshine, and almost balmy temperatures. I have a
good friend who refers to the details of daily life as brush fires, and in his terms,
I spent the morning putting out brush fires. I was reminded of an editor I used
to have at TCU Press who once said she knew the advice—pick up one piece of
paper at a time and don’t put it down until you’ve finished dealing with it—but
she had a hard time putting it into practice.
This morning I
faced recipes I wanted to put in my ongoing cookbook—some I fixed this weekend,
some from earlier days—along with some tax matters to solve (who gets away with
sending a W2 in March, when I sent all my information to the accountant weeks
ago?), yet another revision of Murder at
the Bus Depot. This time I had to unpublish it and will have to wait a
couple days and then re-publish. This has been an enormously difficult book to
get online, and I think it’s “them” and not me. Out of four phone calls to take
care of business, I was asked to leave four messages and have only had a return
call from one. Grateful it was the accountant. The other calls had to do with a
pirated copy of my chili book, an appointment to check my hearing aids, and I
can’t even remember the last one—what will I do if they never call back and I
never remember?
A morning like
this makes me so grateful for a career that I can continue as long as my brain
and my fingers on the keyboard hold out, one where I can work at home in my
pajamas with my dog sleeping peacefully nearby, and one where I can work at my
own pace, set my own deadlines. I’m quite sure having that desk-oriented career
keeps me young—well okay, not in years but you know what I mean—maybe active
and alert are better words. Friends who are more mobile than I do a lot of
volunteer work that keeps them on the go, and I regret that lack of mobility
won’t let me join them. But sometimes I see their volunteerism lock them into
schedules that are almost like working again, and then I appreciate my life all
the more.
I do admit to
spending too much time following current events these days—who can resist? I
won’t burden you with opinions tonight, but I will quote Dorothy Parker:
“Should they whisper false of you/Never trouble to deny/Should the words they
say be true/Weep and storm and swear they lie.” You know without my telling you
who needs to heed that advice. He must be an awful poker player.
My stay-at-home
career wouldn’t be quite so happy and fulfilling if I didn’t have family and
friends who come to visit, who take me out for lunch or dinner, who give me the
taste of the world that I miss in my solitary work.
Tonight I had a
wonderful taste of that larger world beyond my cottage. Jordan and I went to a
reception following Mary Volcansek’s Final Lecture at TCU. Mary is a dear
friend—she calls me her big sister—and a client of Jordan’s. It was a lovely
affair and a great tribute to Mary’s long academic career. For me, it was a
bonus—a chance to greet colleagues I haven’t seen in a while and visit at
length with one pair of old friends. Granted, I had a hard time hearing, but it
was still a heady experience and made me feel part of the mainstream again. Wine
was good too.
Going to bed happy
tonight.
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