January 17, 2022

‍As usual, multi-tasking just finished the vacuuming and washing a rug that Wookie had been kind enough to throw up on, washing machine’s making a racket about it because it’s a good size throw rug, while brewing some Irish tea, and cooking a newfangled vegetarian low carb thing called ‘cauliflower rice stuffing’ which turned out to be simple yet quite tasty AND healthy. I love traditional stuffing and for some reason only get to eat it like once a year, if that, a limitation which is not a law and something I could easily make any darn time I wanted to during the year,  (Note to self — don’t forget to do that!).
Innocently spied out the kitchen window at the empty neighborhood and saw no wildlife but did catch side of two humans, the young man and woman across the way… I haven’t decided yet whether they are Trumpers or not… that’s the kind of  weighing and scouting out and analyzing that goes on now in our divided country. Anyway they’ve been friendly the few times we’ve encountered, but we’re not bumping into each other much now because of the damp cold weather, but one day I looked out the window and she was cleaning my walk with a shovel of the ‘big 4- inch snow’ that we got not too long ago and you don’t get any nicer than that. I don’t know whether she figured I was an old helpless codger who couldn’t do it alone or I didn’t have the equipment, but I opened the door and we talked briefly, and I thanked her but I let her know I did have the necessary tools and just by telling her that she didn’t come back to shovel for the next snow, which was fine, I just appreciated her kindness. So I saw them packing into their van and getting ready to go somewhere… I think they even cleaned it out a little bit before they did. They have two young boys who I assume are in school right now, although the schools are struggling to stay open with increased omicron covid infections among staff and students both. I am also listening while I do all this to a library audiobook called Spy Of the First Person… It’s the last book that Sam Shepard put together with the help of his family in his dying days. He died in July of 2017 of ALS, which is a terrible way to go, and the book, which is a collection of just ruminations and memories and observations that he was having from his front porch. It includes things coming from him as the narrator but he also keeps having a sensation that someone is watching him, and of course that someone is himself I guess or the reader. It’s a sad book, but also poetic, plain and unadorned, but beautiful and quiet,  and I guess it’s a good way to leave the world without any kind of Big Splash or symbols or rockets going off. I admired him forever as a writer/ playwright and actor. He played in several movies. I recently saw a moving documentary, SHEPARD AND DARK about a friendship of decades that he had with a man, Johnny Dark, and how they eventually broke apart. Also worth watching… I’d even like to see it again.

SHEPARD AND DARK DOCUMENTARY TRAILER https://youtu.be/-WHBP7NjIxY