(special thanks for this one go to Sue Black. Give her a visit! http://sueblack1.wordpress.com/ )
I knew today wouldn’t go well. Just felt it in my bones last night. Had a headache and feeling of dread.
Too many things to do. How many balls can a girl juggle? Went to bed swimming in obligation.
Monday morning brought usual tumult. Question is, who to take care of? Dogs get walked first. And then? Wake boys? Wake husband? Prepare breakfast? Shower?
Visit from mother-in-law means no homework done. Papers waiting up in my backpack. I hauled the boys in to school. The monkeys on my back tagged along.
Who greeted me at school today? Meetings, changes in schedule, random requests. Is there any time to sit? Not still.
Meetings follow classes. Classes follow meetings. My A-game was shot. Somehow, I couldn’t win. Newly photocopied tests were hidden by gnomes. Any papers I needed just vanished. Pencils disappeared. Technology tools went poof. A student suggested gnome traps. It was too late to save me. Sadly, they got my sense of humor. Forget the B-game. I’d even settle for my C-game. No dice today.
After school, it’s meeting time. Tricky subjects await. All were present, including powers that be. I notice that tongue-holding isn’t my strength. Not today.
I leave for the next hurdle: hockey practice. I wanted to be whiny and tearful. My children beat me to it.
What if you don’t see the light? How do you salvage a day? What happens when gratitude hides?
You wait for a good snow. Step out of the car. Look into the wind. Open your mouth. Try to get the flakes to fly in. Try to get snow on your tongue. Some will hit. Some will land on your cheeks. Some will fly up your nose.
Most of the time, it misses. But watch, just watch. Sometimes you can catch it just right.
When you do, look around. Joy and Wonder may be standing near. And with them, Gratitude. But be careful. Don’t get too distracted. The gnomes are waiting. And they just got your car keys.
Reflections, Rants and Raves 
January 26, 2010 at 6:33 am |
love it, love it, love it!! your writing always leaves me breathless — what now? what next?
thanks for playing along!!
January 26, 2010 at 8:44 am |
That was so lovely. Your finest post yet.
I think this would make for a great storytelling story, too.
Storytelling story? I know that’s not the right word combo, but you know what I meant. š
January 28, 2010 at 11:14 am |
Aw shucks. Thanks! =)
January 28, 2010 at 10:18 am |
Hey, I love this style. Is it what you call radical clarity? You cut sentences to make it have 5 or 8 words.
davidjuly.cz.cc
January 28, 2010 at 11:13 am |
Thanks, David. And yes, that’s exactly it. I may try it a bit more often. It seemed to work pretty well.
March 21, 2010 at 5:12 pm |
Enter reality: a friend tells me I am the powers that be and so I begin to think about that, about how all these years I’ve been thinking someone else calls the shots because afterall I’m the youngest, not the smartest, usually caught up in some dreamworld of my own when teachers would call out in frustration and parents gave up or were too busy with their own lives to really care (even though I’m sure they did and they said they did)but I kept dreaming and kept living in my world-to-be because it wasn’t allowed yet, but now I’m thinking hey maybe it’s allowed now, maybe things have all been tunneling toward this point and now here I am a grown up with grown up children and I still feel like a little kid sometimes, but maybe (yeah really) I’m not and if i don’t grab what is left of me and share it with the world, the world is going to keep on turning without me and I’ll have to wait for my next lifetime or whatever and in the meantime I have burned the chicken soup on the stove and my son is calling me and the present moment of my writing has become what’s most important and I love it.
Don’t know how many words this is but thanks for the creative inspiration!
March 22, 2010 at 10:50 pm |
Liz, I love this snapshot of you. I can imagine you, caught up in thought for a moment maybe, maybe a few minutes, maybe who knows while you piece this all together. It’s beautiful, really. (You should forward this to that friend, by the way!)