This morning as I walked into the mall on the way to work, I noticed a fatherly man with two smallish boys, sitting in lined up beach chairs behind what would have been Locker Room’s exterior wall. Odd I thought.

But then I got distracted because as I walked through the door in, I looked up and there was a view composed of: the hard, straight edge of the building and some of the cream-colored wall above me, the bright blue sky above and between the edge and the sky, the black head and shoulders of a very large crow sitting above the door looking down at me, first with one eye and then the other.

Fast forward to this evening.

Tonight when I came out, the father and two boys had been moved away from that wall (probably told it was too close to where large trucks park to unload shipments). They were joined in their new location by maybe 30 people, mostly young men. There were some cat calls as I walked to my car. (I was thinking: yet another trendy sports shoe launch! how exciting! not!)

Seriously? Cat calls?

“And what sort of party is this that I wasn’t invited to”, I called out, turning towards them.

As I turned, I realized one tall young man was striding towards me. Really?

“Hey”, he said as he got way too close to me, “aren’t you going to join us?”

“No”, I said in my most imperious* imperial** tone. “~I~ am going home.”

And I turned, walked over to my car and got into it.

———-
* imperious: adj assuming power or authority without justification; arrogant and domineering: his imperious demands

** imperial: adj of or relating to an empire: Britain’s imperial era.
• of or relating to an emperor: the imperial family.
• majestic; magnificent: the bedroom is huge and imperial.

Last night’s weariness
drawing me into night’s rest
was honestly earned.

Tonight’s exhaustion
grotesque, cruelty expressed
weighted with the world.

We bind up the wounds
with the strength of hope and love
one for another.

The news and requests for “how to I deal with this thing that happened to me/someone I know?” made me rummage around for this thing I’d gathered up after September 11. Sometimes just knowing that these very powerful emotions are normal, they’ll change, they’ll come back, makes it a little better when you’re thinking you must be crazy.

My thoughts are with folks in Colorado whose fun night out was changed in an instant and for their friends and families.

Sleepiness weights me
Weariness wrapping me up
I fly up to dreams.

Why so tired tonight?
snipping off an hour of sleep
last night was shortened.

Unremarkable
this day with chaos sloppy
it bit its own tail.

I set me homeward
brushed away the day’s roughness
and set down to work.

I forgot to put down when I started bobbin #6 and the bit of border-like quilting in that color. As I rounded up to the place I’d started, of course, bobbin #6 ran out. I estimated 12″ or so of stitching to go, max. I stopped and unstitched to a good stopping and starting point. Then I put in another bobbin of the same color and did those final inches.

And so now I will put in the actual bobbin #7 and start the larger part of the quilting! Thank goodnewss it’s a bit cooler and less humid tonight.