Off The Grid
I wrote this last night from the comfort of my couch. Since I don't have a laptop and I didn't really feel like communicating with the outside world, it didn't get typed till now. Enjoy!
It's the first day of spring and it snowed.
In and of itself, that's not so odd. It's still March. Alas, last week at this point -- heck, three days ago -- it was in the sixties. The ground has thawed enough that all of that melt soaked in. My poorly-designed front sidewalk was no longer a pond.
At 11:30 this morning, those fluffy mini-snowballs falling from the sky (the kind that only fall when it's weirdly humid out and juuuuust the right temperature) didn't bother me. They also, not coincidentally, didn't accumulate. The sun made a reappearance shortly after and all was right with the world. They warranted a whiny text message to a couple of vacationing friends but no more reaction than that.
Then sometime after dark the snow fell again, this time a bit more earnestly, enough to stick and enough to cover the last tiny piles of frozen dirt still lingering in those parts of my yard that don't get direct sunlight. Ever. Suddenly, the snow is pretty again.
Yet all I can think is, "Geez, I hope it doesn't melt so fast that Sophie gets stuck in the mud." That's my punishment for not parking on the driveway, but, well, I couldn't remember if M-Kay was going to be around tonight.
I'm relaxing at home, refusing to make plans or even call people. I haven't had a night truly to myself since I got back from Enland and dangnabbit, I'm taking one. I need it.
So why is that Statler Brothers song so firmly lodged in my head?
I keep hearin' you're concerned about my happiness
But all that thought you're givin' me is conscience I guess
If I was walkin' in your shoes, I wouldn't worry none
While you 'n' your friends are worried about me I'm havin' lots of fun
I don't think anyone's too concerned. When I said I was going off the grid for the evening I got a couple of weird looks ("Who does that?") but nothing more.
Countin' flowers on the wall, that don't bother me at all
There are precisely two flowers on my wall. No wallpaper in this joint.
Playin' solitaire till dawn with a deck of fifty-one
It's Cribbage solitaire, actually, and I'm playing with a full deck, thankyouverymuch.
Smokin' cigarettes and watchin' Captain Kangaroo
Now don't tell me I've nothin' to do
Okay, so my choice poison isn't cigarettes -- it's popcorn and ginger ale. And I haven't seen Captain Kangaroo in (dare I say it) decades, but I am having my own personal Harry Potter marathon.
Last night I dressed in tails, pretended I was on the town
As long as I can dream it's hard to slow this swinger down
Ugh! Poor word choice. Similarities end. I need to find some other music. Or maybe I should just pay better attention to the movie.
Or the book I grabbed at the B earlier. I love the bargain section at the B -- that's where I find my fun books, the quick reads that can entertain for a night at four bucks a pop. This one is no exception -- and in one and a third Harry Potters it's finished and I've moved on to knitting.
Then kakuro. Then writing.
You know, for a normal, employed, social twentysomething, I might be behaving a bit strangely. Tonight, though, I don't have it in me to be "normal." To be honest, I'm kind of tired of "normal."
Tonight, my brand of a me date is perfect. Well, except for this song ...
So please don't give a thought to me, I'm really doin' fine
You can always find me here, I'm havin' quite a time...
It's the first day of spring and it snowed.
In and of itself, that's not so odd. It's still March. Alas, last week at this point -- heck, three days ago -- it was in the sixties. The ground has thawed enough that all of that melt soaked in. My poorly-designed front sidewalk was no longer a pond.
At 11:30 this morning, those fluffy mini-snowballs falling from the sky (the kind that only fall when it's weirdly humid out and juuuuust the right temperature) didn't bother me. They also, not coincidentally, didn't accumulate. The sun made a reappearance shortly after and all was right with the world. They warranted a whiny text message to a couple of vacationing friends but no more reaction than that.
Then sometime after dark the snow fell again, this time a bit more earnestly, enough to stick and enough to cover the last tiny piles of frozen dirt still lingering in those parts of my yard that don't get direct sunlight. Ever. Suddenly, the snow is pretty again.
Yet all I can think is, "Geez, I hope it doesn't melt so fast that Sophie gets stuck in the mud." That's my punishment for not parking on the driveway, but, well, I couldn't remember if M-Kay was going to be around tonight.
I'm relaxing at home, refusing to make plans or even call people. I haven't had a night truly to myself since I got back from Enland and dangnabbit, I'm taking one. I need it.
So why is that Statler Brothers song so firmly lodged in my head?
I keep hearin' you're concerned about my happiness
But all that thought you're givin' me is conscience I guess
If I was walkin' in your shoes, I wouldn't worry none
While you 'n' your friends are worried about me I'm havin' lots of fun
I don't think anyone's too concerned. When I said I was going off the grid for the evening I got a couple of weird looks ("Who does that?") but nothing more.
Countin' flowers on the wall, that don't bother me at all
There are precisely two flowers on my wall. No wallpaper in this joint.
Playin' solitaire till dawn with a deck of fifty-one
It's Cribbage solitaire, actually, and I'm playing with a full deck, thankyouverymuch.
Smokin' cigarettes and watchin' Captain Kangaroo
Now don't tell me I've nothin' to do
Okay, so my choice poison isn't cigarettes -- it's popcorn and ginger ale. And I haven't seen Captain Kangaroo in (dare I say it) decades, but I am having my own personal Harry Potter marathon.
Last night I dressed in tails, pretended I was on the town
As long as I can dream it's hard to slow this swinger down
Ugh! Poor word choice. Similarities end. I need to find some other music. Or maybe I should just pay better attention to the movie.
Or the book I grabbed at the B earlier. I love the bargain section at the B -- that's where I find my fun books, the quick reads that can entertain for a night at four bucks a pop. This one is no exception -- and in one and a third Harry Potters it's finished and I've moved on to knitting.
Then kakuro. Then writing.
You know, for a normal, employed, social twentysomething, I might be behaving a bit strangely. Tonight, though, I don't have it in me to be "normal." To be honest, I'm kind of tired of "normal."
Tonight, my brand of a me date is perfect. Well, except for this song ...
So please don't give a thought to me, I'm really doin' fine
You can always find me here, I'm havin' quite a time...
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