Happy Birthday, Katharina!

Happy Birthday, beautiful girl!

Longing for Innisfree

Yesterday I deactivated my Facebook account.  I'm no Luddite, but I loathe Zuckerberg and his algorithms, and I'm happy to no longer be a part of that. After deactivating my account, I spent a happy day cleaning my house, including getting down on my hands and knees and washing the dining room floor and the stairs with warm water into which I'd added a generous amount of Murphy's Oil Soap, which always leaves a delicate, clean scent that I love. I made myself a nice lunch, and ran some errands. When I got home again, I curled up with both cats on the chaise in my bedroom and read several chapters of A Man Called Ove, a book which I'm thoroughly enjoying. And when I went to bed last night, I felt more calm and at peace than I have in months.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree, by W.B. Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee;
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping
     slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket
     sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

Voldemort wins

The unthinkable has happened: Donald Trump has won the election. My mistake was thinking the election stuff would be over on November 8th. If Hillary had won, it would have been pretty much over for me, in a good way. I'd be following the news to see whom she was considering for cabinet positions, but I'd have a general sense of wellbeing as I did this. Instead, the unthinkable has happened and I (and millions of others) have been plunged into a despair and sense of dread that I've only felt previously a few times in my life, with the death of someone close to me.

Oh Happy Day!

This is the last day that my desk will look like this. Tonight, after I sign off, I'll disconnect everything, and tomorrow I'll make the final long drive to Fort Worth to turn everything in. It feels so good.