Refraction – Page 17 – The Weight of My Days

Day 47: The elephant in the room

I have talked around it, walked around it, ignored it, and pasted pennies on top of it. All day today I found ways to do anything but that: I would rather cook, clean the kitchen, shop, go to Costco, and test couches at the furniture store. Anything but Art. There. I said it. I’m not … read more Day 47: The elephant in the room

Day 39: Make it stop

I laughed out loud at the headline in our local newspaper: “Pain often comes with age.” Now there’s a news flash. Mostly, I don’t mind getting older. I make better decisions, I don’t get as agitated, I’m not quite as restless. But at times I quote my mother: “It’s hell to get old,” she used … read more Day 39: Make it stop

Day 38: Miles for miles

Delta tells me that I have flown 246,875 miles in their planes. That’s trivial, of course – there are many people in the Million Miler clubs, and then there’s Tom Stuker, who’s flown more than 10 million miles on United. Still, it makes me tired to think what my total mileage would be if I added in United, … read more Day 38: Miles for miles

Day 37: Even One

I really intended to stay up all night to watch the meteor shower. But it’s after 10 o’clock and I was falling asleep out there, on a breezy deck in an Adirondack chair with a blanket wrapped around me, watching the billion stars. But I saw one. I saw one just as I was ready to … read more Day 37: Even One

Day 34: The last time I left home

I left Ohio many times, physically and mentally, before I left for good in 1984. But I always knew I would leave. Maybe it started when I was very little. I used to play along the banks of the creek that ran through our front yard, and built imaginary villages from twigs, leaves, moss, and … read more Day 34: The last time I left home

Day 32: Ticket to ride

I used to think that Cedar Point was a made-up name for the amusement park, and a strange one at that. Really, it doesn’t sound like it would be fun, the way that “Disneyland” did. No: Cedar Point was simply the name of a place, long before it was a company and a destination for … read more Day 32: Ticket to ride

Day 31: Oldest of friends

Today was another first: I got to play Trivial Pursuit with two people who have known me for more than 40 years. I lost. But what a fun way to lose. One of the two was my oldest sister, Ann, who is among the very select group of people who can say she has known … read more Day 31: Oldest of friends

Day 28: Class of ’77

We called ourselves The Crew, by virtue of one of those stories that were very funny in high school but which would take far too long to tell in a blog post and wouldn’t be funny to anyone but us, anyhow. I’m not even sure how the six of us became friends: Barb, Bill, John, … read more Day 28: Class of ’77

Day 24: Lucky 13

My number 13 tooth has been a problem for a long time. It was probably one of the first cavities I had filled, as a kid. It was my only root canal, done sometime in the mid ’90s, and at the time there were a couple of tiny forks off the root that the dentist … read more Day 24: Lucky 13

Day 23: Vanity and pain

I should have known better than to wear those shoes. But I was going to a conference in Atlanta for women-owned businesses, and I knew that the women would all be wearing fashionable, high-heeled shoes. My North Georgia casual-comfortable Keens would not cut it in that crowd. Instead I wore some black shoes that had … read more Day 23: Vanity and pain