Look, sunshine! Oops, too slow---blink and you miss it. The wind keeps blowing and the rain keeps falling and the grass keeps growing, but who can mow when the ground is so wet?
So I sit indoors and cross chores off my list. Yesterday, for instance, I made a bed--a toddler bed for my grandson, who will visit next week and has outgrown the crib. I bought the bed at Toys R Us, which is going out of business (sad) and therefore selling everything at a markdown (yes!), and it was the last toddler bed this store had in stock (lucky me), although it would be more accurate to call it a "bed kit." It came in a flat box full of nearly identical parts, cryptic instructions, and the dreaded Allen wrench. That's two hours of my life I'll never get back, but the bed feels sturdy, fits the space, and looks good. The only thing it needs to be complete is my grandson.
I've also been working my way through a pile of scholarly articles and books in preparation for revising an article that got rejected not long ago. Rejection is always rough, but this was the kindest and most encouraging rejection I've ever received, so I'm moving forward to revise the article and send it elsewhere. First, though, I took a look at the MLA bibliography and discovered that a half dozen articles on the topic have come out since I last touched this article. So I am no longer in the vanguard (drat!) but no one else has approached the topic the way I do, so it's worth continuing, even if it requires reading a mess of scholarly books. Nothing against scholarly books in general, but here are some things I never again hope to see: a long summary of the chapter before the chapter begins; whole paragraphs composed of a patchwork of quotes from other authors; and cutesy neologisms like "matter" used as a transitive verb. (I would provide an example but it hurts my eyes to see references to something "mattering" something else.)
Next, I get to write thank-you notes! Not a bad chore because it reminds me of all the people who have been so kind and supportive during the past difficult weeks and, especially, after last week's flood. I'm surrounded by such marvelous people--what could I possibly have to complain about?
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