scifiknitter

I don’t know if this thought is original, but it feels like one that arose without outside assistance. I don’t take the concept of originality too seriously, though. I have been haunted for decades by the words of Lenny Bruce: “Believe me, I’m not profound, this is something that I assume someone must have laid on me, because I do not have an original thought. I am screwed. I speak English. That’s it. I was not born in a vacuum. Every thought I have belongs to somebody else.” With that out of the way, here’s the thought: No matter how you spend your time, each day is full to the brim at its end.

Like many people, I face a constant challenge trying to find ideas for appropriate, thoughtful gifts for my parents. In my case, I like to add “useful” to the criteria, as all of my parents are surrounded by beautiful objects. I don’t think they need another gorgeous vase, and there is no room on the walls for another picture. While once in a while I come up with an idea on my own, more and more I simply ask them what they would like. Last year, I asked my stepmom and dad what they wanted for Christmas. They answered that they wanted two things. First, they did not think an oak tree growing very near to their house was healthy, and they asked us to take that tree down and cut it up for firewood. This is a particular skill of my husband’s - R. is at one with his tool when he is wielding a chainsaw. My stepmom also asked me to knit her a pair of socks. She asked for black socks that would be taller than the usual 7” cuff, because she likes socks as tall as possible. Other than that, I ha...

Several weeks ago, I did something I have not done before in my entire adult life: I spent a day with my sister. Just us two, all husbands and children off in different places doing different things. The logistics that made this possible were as complicated as one usually encounters in a 21st century over-scheduled middle class American lifestyle. To summarize as briefly as possible: both of my sister J.’s daughters had nearly-simultaneous events at a SUNY campus near me. M-the-younger was attending two weeks of music camp while M-the-older had freshman orientation that started a couple of days after music camp. Meanwhile my husband had to go to Albany and J.’s husband couldn’t get leave from his job to stay up north for an extra day. He came up with the family to deliver M-the-younger to camp, and hitched a ride back home with the family of another music camper. This left me, J., and M-the-older at my house Monday morning. After we delivered M-the-older to orientation, J. and I had m...