Memoirous

Leafing Out   Everything is leafing out While it only seems like a week ago The trees were bare And the jubilant buds far off Today the blossoms are a memory and Everything has leafed out   Sitting out While only a week ago A bitter wind blew and the trees shivered Today the verdant canopy is thick And we sit out, basking in the sun   Every bone in the body relaxes in warmth And the eyes cool in the shade Next week will be better As we leaf out, laugh out, lean Into summer  

I’ve been feeling very stressed lately—but, to be honest, I’m always feeling stressed. It’s my go-to reaction to pretty much everything. A physical second guessing. The cataract thing hasn’t helped. One, it presents as an old-person problem and I’m not old. At least I don’t feel old. Nevertheless, it came on quick and are fast-growing. I had an eye evaluation scheduled end of last September and things were fine. They noted my distance vision had worsened, but there was nothing said it was because cataracts were clouding my vision. Then, fast forward to December: And I’;m having trouble driving and at work I keep saying it looks like snow. To be fair, it did snow a lot—just not inside the building. I went back to the eye doc and asked about glasses. I got a pair in February and was told it might take some getting used to. March and April and I’m not seeing any better. So I go back to talk things over. That’s when I’m given an appointment to meet with an ophthalmologist. The process...

Here in Kalamazoo Does anyone else get Glenn Miller déjà vu when they hear Kalamazoo? I got a gal (in Kalamazoo) Don't wanna boast, but I know she's the toast Of Kalamazoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo Years have gone by (my, my how she grew) I liked her looks when I carried her books In Kalamazoo-zoo-zoo-zoo-zoo I'm gonna send a wire, hoppin' on a flyer (Leavin' today) So, today I hopped a train to Kalamazoo—not exactly by choice. As mentioned in my last post: I recently found out I have cataracts. Not a little, but a lot. I was told not to drive and I knew I had a presentation in Kalamazoo in less than a week. Nothing upsets me more than to think I’ll disappoint someone. So, with the little agency I still possessed. I booked a morning train to the city/town and figured something would work out. It did. First off: the train was only $9, less money than I was planning to give to someone to drive me. Second, my husband was here visiting and was going back ...

Stink Bugs I was emptying a box the other day to get ready for a reading I was doing. Hopefully. Things these days feel very tenuous. Finding out I have cataracts and trying to schedule a procedure also has something to do with my mental makeup. Everything is cloudy and on hold. Anyway, in a corner of the box was a dead stink bug. Who knows how long it’s been there! It’s not like I was unpacking the Dead Sea Scrolls but, yes, it was back stock of my books. It’d been a minute. A Chicago minute. (I’ve been in Michigan now for about 4 years, time flies.) The last time I saw some of these books was packing them up to leave Chicago and wondering if my writing life was going to continue. Inventory is always about how much do you think you’ll need/want. It was hard to imagine going through so many copies of Orphan Girl and some of the other titles, but I packed them all into a U-Haul and trucked them to Okemos, Michigan where who knew what was next!? So, this was a Chicago stink bug? ...