Tuesday, November 14 - Massachusetts

Good evening, my friends! Looking at the calendar (and emails from my sister), it is hard to believe Thanksgiving will be here next week already.

Wow - what a long, strange year it's been. And - I have so very, very much to be thankful for.

After last week's "Panda incident", and a mini flood which occurred a week before, I finally broke down and bought a mop. I did not have one; have put off the trip to Walmart because, well, I just really, REALLY dislike going to Walmart.

A few weeks ago we had a nasty storm - high winds and torrential rain. I was sitting at the table reading, and noticed a huge puddle of water forming on the kitchen floor. It was seeping in under the back door due to the high winds. An anomaly, yes, but quite a mess at the time.

I did not have a mop and had to use a ton of paper towels and few older towels to mop it up. Took a lot of time! Then the Panda incident occurred. Grrr. So I got a mop on sale last week at the grocery store. Figure now that I have one I will not need it (one can only hope!). Paper towels are not really the best line of defense for kitchen floor flood clean-up!
The past few weeks I have plowed through quite a bit of paperwork etc. My life is quite complicated. Too much for my liking at this point. I am trying to make it less so.

I have mentioned many times - I like to read in the evening for awhile. I recently picked out of my books-that-made-it one of poetry by Dylan Thomas; a collection that contains many of his earlier poems. Probably one of the hardest poets to get through and definitely not for a novice poetry reader!

Dylan Thomas

A Welsh poet - tormented by demons, of course - he died at the very early age of 39. He left behind a wealth of words. Ingenious and actually quite rhythmic. Deep. I find myself reading his poetry out loud. Dylan Thomas had a fascination with words and the images they concoct. He is best known for "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "A child's Christmas in Wales".

Yes, I do indeed have a great many things to be thankful for this year. I am thankful for every single one of them, and each and every moment. I have a cat who is going to be 20 years old in a few months. I have had the privilege to share her life since she was 6 months old. I have some outstanding friends, and I have a family with whom I am very close; especially my siblings.

That, my friends, means the entire world to me. That is what matters. Stay tuned!