One summer to help me make money my windowasher uncle let me wash windows with him. He probably split the money with me 50:50 on the jobs I helped him on, although he worked ten times as fast as I did. One hot day we washed windows at a beekeeper’s home, coincidentally on the same day as the beekeeper extracted honey from a bunch of hives, so as we balanced up on our high ladders and washed windows swarms of angry honeybees stung us.
After the first dozen stings, it doesn’t hurt so much.
Speaking of insects, after ten years or so on this blog it feels as if it’s finally lived up to its name. Assuming I keep flapping my wings. I haven’t been happy non-stop, but I’ve been closer to my heart than I have been in decades, and rather joyous/blissful/whateverwe’vediscussedthisbefore as opposed to sarcastic and cynical.
I haven’t been as funny, though, IMO, YMMV, and I miss that, but maybe it just takes a while for self-deprecation and snarkiness to be replaced by something else just as funny.
What I’m trying to say is, there’s a pine tree outside my office window that is beautiful. It reminds me of Japan, especially but not only when it has snow on it, as it did last month, and now when it reminds me of Japan it not only makes me nostalgic, but also rather sad and concerned, but it’s still a beautiful tree.
I go stand on the balcony of my office and look at it and think, sure is beautiful, this world.
That’s what I think. Even on a hot day, getting stung by lots of bees.
I’ve been sad all day because Gamma is mad at me because I’m ruining her life by not letting her spend the night partying at a boy’s house with a girlfriend and allegedly three boys. She’s 13.
I found out about it last night. My wife was all, she told you about it three weeks ago and I was all, she still can’t go and anyhow, what? My wife suggested I talk to Gamma about it and so I did and got such details as, she doesn’t know his last name and his house is in another town near a bus stop, and, yes, of course, dad, his parents will be home. That all made me feel a lot better but I still said no.
Don’t tell anyone, but I’m always shocked whenever I put my foot down about something and people take me seriously. Like I’m some big scary guy when I don’t feel that way at all.
But, hey, if they buy it I’m selling it.
Excuse me, I have to go look at a tree.
This reminds me of something that happened on The Sopranos on one of the rare occasions that I watched it (I did not like the show) – Tony Soprano and his wife had imposed some punishment on their daughter, Meadow, which seemed temporarily to be working, but then later when they were in bed, Tony said to his wife, “Wait till she finds out we’re helpless, then we’re really up the creek,” or words to that effect. Yes, we’re helpless – if they, at age 12 or 13, are going to drink half a bottle of whiskey and then climb out the window at 1:00 AM and wander around the city streets when it’s 10 degrees F, and we can’t find them and neither can the neighbors we’ve enlisted to help, nor the police who’ve promised to keep an eye out, then we just have to wait until they decide to come home. (Diana used to do this, not Sara). Yes, helpless. You have, at least temporarily, done Tony Soprano one better!