November 2010
40 posts
November 29 - MoD
I take the ice for the first time in months. Earlier I got online to check upcoming stick and shoot times and discovered the blessed rare occurrence of an evening session. When this happens, you don’t debate attending, you go. Of course, I discover this after my intense leg and speed drill workout and wonder how I’ll keep my legs under me.
The air is an artificially cold and very dry. The ice...
“And when the night is cloudy, there is a light that shines on me. Shine until...”
– -The Beatles
I hear this song in my head as I crest over a knoll in the woods to find a single, vibrant green fern silouetted in the sun. It radiates. It literally radiates in the honest green that defines it. The air remains cool, but as clean as can be.
November 27 - MoD
I’m playing Thomas Jefferson again this evening. I cheat by adding a thin layered wool sweater under my vest to combat the freezing temps and flurries that are forecasted. Tonight’s activity is to welcome General Washington off the steam train he rides in on from Valley Forge then walk with my wife Martha in the parade. As we exist the building we change in, we encounter the horse-drawn carriage...
November 26 -MoD
My task for the evening has been to teach others the Virginia Reel. It is a cross between a square dance and a line dance. Though we Jeffersons are a reserved bunch, my wife and I are happy to host others for the 12th Night Ball in our Virginian home. My manner is stiff, my breath resides higher in my chest. I am very purposeful in my dance moves. What can I say…I’m colonial. One activity I cannot...
November 25-MoD
I finish my Thanksgiving meal. I’m not as uncomfortably full as I ususally am. I then take the helm to be primary dish washer. While clearing the table I notice two full glasses of water. They are unwanted and I suddenly have a terrible thirst. I pick them both up and chug the water. This instantly makes me wish I hadn’t done so as I have now reached maximum capacity on the day of...
November 24 - MoD
I sit in my office chair. I’ve utilized the services of Grooveshark and digitaldreamdoor.com to collaborate a rather impressive list of the finest funk to stimulate my work productivity as I sprint and the day crawls toward the final hour before Thanksgiving break. This has been a very present and patient month, but boy do I want to be somewhere else. I reflect on how badly I want to give up...
“My gift is my song and this one’s for you.”
- Elton John”
– November 23 - MoD
When I heard this song today, I realized that we all have gifts. Sir Elton is no different from any of us, what makes him special is that he discovered what it was and shared it with the world.
I heard ever word of that song in perfect clarity. The cutoffs we so timed and every...
November 22 -MoD
I’m leaving work. In the process, I gather my sweaty backpack, recycle my two plastic bottles, lock my door and place my new favorite hat on my head. The exit door is 12 casual paces from my office and I push hard on it. Warmer air than expected floods in and around me and I am surprised that it’s this warm for November in PA. I have to round the bottom of a staircase to truly be...
November 21 - MoD
I’m on the couch. It is late evening and I feel extreme comfort from my head to my toes. My head and neck contour around the arm of the couch perfectly. They had a long day of getting reacquainted. My short hair bristles across the leather as my head moves. My torso and legs feel three times as heavy as normal, but the weight is supported in just the right areas. My running suit is uniform and...
“Cholera is a bacterial disease usually spread...
November 19 - MoD
“Amen,” pronounces Sister Kate and Sister Sue as we finish grace before they enjoy lunch. I’ve taken them up on the offer to join the table while I wait for my sandwich to go.
“I have to admit I’m very ignorant of it,” I say.
“It’s a bacterial infection,” says Father David, “the conditions in Haiti have become so poor that 18 people in our parish down there have died from it....
November 18 - MoD
I wake up to the radio. My body is so heavy from the previous two -day exhaustion, but it’s a comfortable morning. I move my legs back and forth under the sea of softness to let the crisp cool of the exposed sheets waken my legs. My third pillow serves as a partner to curl up next to. Its warmth serves as companionship. The broadcaster on the radio is running a story on why people love Handel’s...
HUGE DAY FOR I.S@W!!!
My following has almost doubled today! I was at 3, now I’m at 5! Kidding aside…. I love y’all. Happy to know you.
No fair UK. I want this capability in the US. →
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November 14 - MoD
I’m just about over helping with this move. Today’s task was touch up painting. I’m in the basement of my sister’s house locating smudges, notches, crayon marks and anonymous streaks and dabbing over them with off-white. I remember something I learned in Buddhist practice. There’s what is known as Dana. It refers to physical labor in a state of meditation or extreme awareness. As...
November 13 - MoD
I went to a dump. What a terrible place. It’s the Easy Rotisserie Oven of locations. You set it and forget it. We went there today to get rid of all of the “garbage” before a move. The 50 ft high grass-covered land mounds with ventilation units sticking out of them told me that there was garbage inside of them. This reality paired next to one of the most intimidating looking...
November 11 - MoD
“You know how I know things are going to be ok for you? Because of what you did today for her.”
This was aimed at my sister and the mess of a moving situation her family is in today when we were in the car driving home from the rental car facility.
Nicole taught me a great lesson today….always keep things in perspective.
She took a break from her packing to take dinner,...
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November 9 - MoD
It got goosebumps today! They came when I was across the table from two special people. I prefaced my question to him with “Tell me if I’m stepping over my boundaries when I ask this, but how did things turn out with your daughters?”
He immediately smiled and said, “I pick them up from their mother’s house on Friday night and get them Saturday, Sunday,...
November 8 -MoD
My brother-in-law excuses himself from the table leaving me by the gas fireplace alone with my coffee. It’s in a to go cup and I remove the lid to let it cool. You would have thought I let a flock of doves free in the morning sun. The steam from the fresh cup wisps and woffs into the air in an endless dance. The sun silhouettes this dance before me and I get the feeling like this was meant...
November 7 - MoD
It’s been two days since (so I’m behind in the posts…), but I was treated to beautiful a capella version of “Bring me a Little Water” by 8 very talented women. I sat in the balcony for the performance and wondered why there was carpet on the stage extension during the concert. When it was time for the senior girls to perform their song, I found out the purpose of the...
“Oh rainy come on. Sometimes I just want it to slow down. And we’re...”
– November 6 - MoD
November 5 -MoD
I wake up from a dream about her. It’s been 6 YEARS! Yet her face is just as vivid and her voice is the same and I capture a full conversation within the dream. We talk about Halloween. She’s not interested at first, but then my wit and childishness warm her up. She’s still in school at this point and invites me to a “seminar.” That time remains a vacuum. It’s...
November 2 – MoD
I’m leaving the viewing. I round the corner to find my old Principal walking with her head down. We talk pedestrian surface talk, but under it all, she has a worn look on her face as if she’s saying “I can’t go to these anymore.” If I didn’t pick up on this, I wouldn’t have offered the hug. It’s probably why she was caught off guard and had to turn back after she started away. The embrace...
(1 month challenge) Moment of the Day
New month equals new opportunity. My goal is to view the world with a very focused presence in November. I want to observe 1 vivid moment and capture that in some literary and post-able way.
