Yesterday outside the library there was a woman laying on the cement under the porch with a little viscous dog protecting her. I thought I heard her moaning. I asked her if she was alright.
"My arm hurts" she said.
"Can you sit up?" I asked
"A little," she said.
Then she curled into a fetal position and started to cry, openly..
"Are you OK?" I asked
She cried, "I want my mother."
***
My eyes feel strained.
My chair is uncomfortable and my back feels tweaked.
Actually, I've been typing for hours today, lots of things to attend to and several long letters I may never send. Really, I want to stay in bed all day tomorrow and read, and pretend I have no problems. I would feel guilty if I did.
What is the point?
To what shall I turn my attention to now?
I saw a librarian I like smoking a cigarette.
We await definitive news about the possible invasion of Ukraine by Russia. I hope not.
The ships are coming in, the empty containers are stacked, there are ads out all over for truck drivers.
I'm still wearing a mask every day when I go inside buildings.
I got one of those free three-mask packs that the government sent out to pharmacies for distribution.
The prices at the grocery store are so high so suddenly it's frightening. What really got me was seeing gallons of water, supposedly bottled in the mountains north of here, at fifty cents higher.
Children who are getting free food at school are littering the neighborhood with it, not appreciating it, just throwing it to the ground on their walk home. Pizza, salad, carrots, apples, oranges, nuts, burgers, in wrappers, littering the lawns. I have lost my pity for them.
My dog is still alive but more fragile than ever. I know she cannot live forever. I'm not ready for her to die. I check on her when she's sleeping. I tell her I love her more frequently. She is going blind, one eye much worse than the other. She moves her head from left to right to scan. She scares more easily.
The slum lord with the empty building near me fake-tried to rent the remodeled unit. We all know that she does not want to rent it.
This past weekend garage sales started.
After three days of unseasonably hot weather, it turned cold and it hailed! Tonight I will be under blankets again.
