night in 200 words…really fast

night…

i have always been partial to the night. when the sun goes down, it is exhilarating. The sky changes to violet and then blue-violet and then the color of a mat board that we used to use a lot of in san diego…tapestry.

nighttime is so peaceful…so cool and calm and comforting.

i have a penchant for just going outside in the middle of the night, and just sitting there on the deck with my dog, Gunther…just looking out at the cemetery for something…waiting for nothing…just easing the soul.

sometimes…when i was a little girl…i would sit on my grandpa bob’s lap and watch him blow smoke rings…out into the oblivion of darkness. sometimes we would walk up to the top of the hill and drink hot chocolate…while watching the stars.

i miss him,i miss him a lot…that was our time, we both loved the night. dark and enveloping…the silence of the starry nighttime sky…calmed the chaos of the eternally long day…

now…every time i go shooting at night…i think of him and know that he is there…sometimes i wish that he would just show up in a photo…sometimes i know that he has.

when the lights go out

no power…no problem

 

this used to happen to my family all of the time when we lived out in the country, in california. we had all electric…including the pump for our well…without the use of the pump, we could not flush the toilet, shower, do dishes. living so far out in the boonies, we were always the last to get power restored…sometimes, we waited as long as three days. luckily, we had a wood stove, so, we could heat bottled water for washing, and we could warm food up on top of it.

we occupied our time during the day by doing our normal duties…school and work. at night, we would warm food on the wood stove…boil water to do the dishes and wash up…and either sit and play cards by candlelight, or read books with a battery powered book light.

now, as an adult, with my own home and family…i feel more of a need to be prepared. it is very important to me to be sure that if the power goes out, we have everything that we could possibly need. i would like my family to be as comfortable as possible.

if i hear thunder or see lightning, i make sure that the dogs have gone potty…and that they are back inside. i verify that the candles and flashlights are easily accessible. when the power goes out, we are prepared.

we occupy our time by playing cards, or a board game by candlelight. we talk and tell stories. we make sure that the dogs are safe and comfortable. we go to bed early, and hope for power in the morning.

now, the electric company tries their best to get our power back on because i utilize oxygen therapy for my ild.

ode to my neighbor (a 10 line poem)

this is to all the fat bellied, shirtless neighbors…

neighbor, neighbor…across the street
neighbor, neighbor…bare chest and dirty feet
you come and go…go and come
move the white van…and re-park it
move the red truck…and back it in

neighbor, neighbor…up all night
neighbor, neighbor…in the rv…with a flashlight
you talk loud and argue…argue and talk loud
move the periwinkle car…and tear up our grass
move the camper…and almost take out our fence

awake…

what a night.  i think that i finally fell asleep at about 2 am…after the bernie mac show.  then…i was woken up by a barking spreckles at 3 am.  i tried to go back to sleep…but, no dice!  i got on the computer since i could not fall asleep.  i played frontierville, mafia wars, and farmville…all the while thinking that eventually i would get tired enough to fall asleep…no…it didn’t happen.  i think that i was also having tactile hallucinations…which i have had before…i felt like things were crawling on me and biting me.  it was an awful night!  it is 8:30 am now…and i still haven’t gone to sleep.  sarah will be getting up soon…and then we have appointments.  amy goes to the vet @ 10 am, we have to pick-up dieter and ben’s prescriptions, then on to the attorney @ 11:30 am.  in the meantime…i am feeling very sweaty and just exhausted.  well…hopefully sarah slept good enough for the both of us.