i got a phone call from Chloe. We worked together many years at University of Michigan Adult Psych Hospital. From in our twenties. She left before i did, bought a small farm in Missouri. Set out. A single woman, no children. Still.
she called because she is beside herself with the turn of events. Freaked. Like me. We talked some about it and when i said...what are we going to do....she said,
"well, what i'm going to do right now is come pick you up and we'll go to the Grand Canyon. "
i said, surprised, well...May is a good month to visit here. and she said no...i mean now. I'm coming now.
and i began hearing myself say all the things i say about how now is not a great time to visit, it's getting cold OutSide, the in your face Dog, the fact that when the wood burns out it's really very cold in here at night already, that it's not much of a Destination place, and that i can't go to the Grand Canyon....i have Goats...and more. but she just was quiet on the other end of the phone. So i said, i need to get out to feed them now. I'll call you tomorrow.
it's been i guess 35 years since i've seen her. I took the kids once when they were little to visit there. We spent all our time walking to the creek near her house, the kids IN it, building water worlds for minnows and crayfish. She had a box turtle that lived under her deck. that came and went everyday, that we layed in the grass and watched for its coming and going.
she's a basket maker, or was. not so much anymore.
so, i called her back last eve. Thinking that she would have thought better of it. said...so, what are you going to do? She is going to be here on Saturday. Driving from Missouri. She will leave to go back home on Monday and skip the Grand Canyon part, she said. She will bring trout. She's a fisherwoman.
!
so....there's lots to do to be ready for company other than my kids who know how i live.
the Door Work Table is still up...it's next to the futon couch where she will sleep. I need to do something about that for starters
and the table in the ROOM where normal people eat, where we will sit to eat the trout,
wood box....needs to be brimming.
over these years, there are maybe once in a while letters. you know the kind. I think 3 phones.
i look SO forward to her being here. Sitting face to face, how we have such a long history that began when we were young and so sure of every thing. She's 73. I'm going to be 71. How funny we will be to one another in our present forms and at this Startling Moment in this world, trying to figure it all out.
So...don't know how much i'll be able to be here for these days...maybe just pics?, or maybe words
