Catching Up

I have been neglecting you lately haven't I? For someone who isn't currently employed, it sure seems like I have a lot going on lately. I am doing a little bit of floor refinishing work for a friend. That's helped me keep my head just above water lately.

The quarter is over at school and the finals are done. So I can focus on finding real work. Hopefully I will be able to do more writing here. I went down to the Arts Festival Friday afternoon and just wandering through the different booths helped to get my creative juices flowing a bit more. I spent some real quality time with my thoughts while I was there. It's interesting to wander from booth to booth and just take it all in. One minute you are enjoying the serene colors of a landscape painting, imagining your self there floating in a boat. Then turn the corner into another booth and Pow! Your eyes meet with a cacophony of abstract paintings in exuberant primary colors. If you are like me, if art, music sound and color illicit emotional responses then you'll understand me when I say it's kind of like playing crack the whip with your mind or a cosmic whack to your creative self. I'm glad I went.

On the home front, I am preparing for two partings. I have a very old small and mighty calico cat who has quite a story behind her. She has been ill as of late. I borrowed some money from a friend so that I could take her to the vets this past week. The news so far is not good. She has an abdominal mass, and possible kidney failure among other issues. She's really too old to be able to with stand any real intervention to try and lengthen her life. I am trying to make the best of the time I have left with her. I will be writing more about her in a later post as I really want to honor this magnificent companion.

The second parting is my grand father on my father's side. He is my last surviving grand parent. In 2004 he was treated for T-Cell Lymphoma and recovered quite well until recently. His symptoms returned and the doctors have told him that his body isn't going to be able to with stand another round of the aggressive chemo that he was given before. So Hospice has been contacted and we are all trying to spend as much time with him as we possibly can. Grandpa is in his 90s and I lost count a long time ago of how many grand kids and great grand kids there are. We will probably wear the poor man out with our visits and some one is going to need to install a revolving door on his house.

Speaking of Grandpa's house, that place has some pretty special memories for me and I have been struck with how every thing will change when he is gone. I have spent every single Christmas Day for the past 50 years in that house. When I was a kid, my grand parents had the basement remodeled to resemble the old Kahiki restaurant here in Columbus. The remodel was complete with a water fall that has something in the water to turn it a glowing lavender color under the black lights. My cousins and I spent hours down there on Christmas Day. As an adult, most of my time was spent upstairs but our own kids got a chance to have their fun in the basement as well. It just won't seem like Christmas with out a brief trip to Hawaii just down a flight of stairs. I will miss that. His house is intertwined with him and my grand mother in my memory. I will be writing more about my grand father in the days to come as well.

So that's about it. What's new with you?