Saturday, March 18, 2006
Four days of rain and snow have begun...
...I'm thrilled to report. We began reading out loud, again, in the evening a couple of nights ago after a break of a week or so (could be more, I can't remember). We're still working our way through A History of Old Age. It goes slow because Mom becomes easily bored with the scholarly tone of much of the writing, although she loves the pictures. As we finish each page she insists on taking the book, scrutinizing the plates and reading the captions to herself; they contain much information. We've also been working through Whose Bible Is it?, which is a compact well considered history of the Abrahamic Bible as it is used and regarded by all three Abrahamic faiths. This book, too, though, tends to lose her when it gets slightly technical. Last night, as we were contemplating what to read, Mom noticed Anne Rice's Christ The Lord Out of Egypt on the floor by the TV where it was discarded after we'd finished it. "We haven't read that one yet, have we?" she said.
"Well, yes, Mom, we have, a few months ago. You really enjoyed it."
"Really. I don't remember reading it. Is it good?"
"Oh, yeah. It was so good that we read through the entire book in three days. We put off other things to read it."
"No wonder I don't remember it!" Funny, funny woman! "Well, let's read it again."
So, after we reached the end of the section in A History of Old Age we reread the first chapter of Christ The Lord Out of Egypt. By the end of the chapter Mom was sitting on the edge of her rocker, eyes flashing, lapping it up.
Mom "suggested" that this cloudy, precipitous weekend would be "a good time to do some baking", so we'll try to get in as much as we can. I've already promised her a Tomato Biscuit Pie for one of our dinners, maybe tonight, since everything I need is thawed and handy. We've got a couple blackening bananas, too, so I might make banana bread, if I can find my favorite recipe. I also suggested that we catch up on Northern Exposure, since we haven't completed all three seasons. That sounded like a cozy choice for a cozy weekend to her. I ordered her a three dozen bunch of petite roses which were delivered yesterday and will fully bloom over what she would consider a dreary weekend. I did this on purpose, to help keep her spirits up out of "the gray". She was delighted. They are sitting on the table right next to her rocker, available for close admiration.
Am I feeling better? Maybe, on alternate moments. Funny, a couple of months ago I began experiencing, at odd and what seemed to be unrelated times, my internal voice whispering the following, "It's just us, now." I've shaken it off several times since it started but, last night after the events of this week, some of which I haven't gotten around to recording, yet, but hope I will, finally, I contemplated the echoes as it rattled inside my head, sighed and said, "Yes, well, I suppose it is." Somehow, that acceptance seems to have lightened my burden...not completely, mind you, but, well, little by little...you know...
....later.
"Well, yes, Mom, we have, a few months ago. You really enjoyed it."
"Really. I don't remember reading it. Is it good?"
"Oh, yeah. It was so good that we read through the entire book in three days. We put off other things to read it."
"No wonder I don't remember it!" Funny, funny woman! "Well, let's read it again."
So, after we reached the end of the section in A History of Old Age we reread the first chapter of Christ The Lord Out of Egypt. By the end of the chapter Mom was sitting on the edge of her rocker, eyes flashing, lapping it up.
Mom "suggested" that this cloudy, precipitous weekend would be "a good time to do some baking", so we'll try to get in as much as we can. I've already promised her a Tomato Biscuit Pie for one of our dinners, maybe tonight, since everything I need is thawed and handy. We've got a couple blackening bananas, too, so I might make banana bread, if I can find my favorite recipe. I also suggested that we catch up on Northern Exposure, since we haven't completed all three seasons. That sounded like a cozy choice for a cozy weekend to her. I ordered her a three dozen bunch of petite roses which were delivered yesterday and will fully bloom over what she would consider a dreary weekend. I did this on purpose, to help keep her spirits up out of "the gray". She was delighted. They are sitting on the table right next to her rocker, available for close admiration.
Am I feeling better? Maybe, on alternate moments. Funny, a couple of months ago I began experiencing, at odd and what seemed to be unrelated times, my internal voice whispering the following, "It's just us, now." I've shaken it off several times since it started but, last night after the events of this week, some of which I haven't gotten around to recording, yet, but hope I will, finally, I contemplated the echoes as it rattled inside my head, sighed and said, "Yes, well, I suppose it is." Somehow, that acceptance seems to have lightened my burden...not completely, mind you, but, well, little by little...you know...
....later.
