Thursday, April 13, 2000

13 April 2000

(OnDisplay collab for the month of April)
Spring isn't my favorite season of the year, but it's a close second. My favorite season is autumn. But if I had to rate the seasons with percentages that add up to 100, I'd probably say 40% autumn, 35% spring, 20% winter, and 5% summer. (I hate summer. I hate being hot and sweaty, and I hate that the streets are choked with sullen, bored kids who've been thrown out of their houses by angry parents. The only possible redeeming feature I can think of for summer is swimming. And we don't even have access to a pool any more. Thank all the gods that be for air conditioning.)

But spring ranks pretty high. I'd always wanted to get married in the autumn, but when it became obvious that I was going to go slightly mad well before then from the planning, I suggested changing to spring. Matt laughed at me, but agreed. (That's coming up in a few days. Boy, am I glad I bought him some presents before I got sick. I don't think I could stand to go shopping this weekend.)

I like the sights of spring - things blooming in deft and delicate colors; pale greens re-emerging from long-dormant trees. I like the sounds of spring - birds chirping in the air; the patter of a light rain; the whir of lawn mowers in the evening. I like the feel of spring - warm sun; a cool breeze caressing my face and tangling in my hair; soft new grass. I like the taste of spring - strawberries and raspberries and blueberries have a sweetness then that they don't have - if you can find them at all - the rest of the year.

And all tied up with all of those, I've always loved the smells of spring - sweet flowers, the smell of fresh-cut grass, the smell of a soft rain about to fall, the scent of sun-ripened strawberries... These are smells for healing.


I'm not feeling quite as good today as I was yesterday, but still miles better than Tuesday, so that's good. Maybe I'll go to bed immediately after dinner tonight instead of trying to sit up until "bedtime." I'm still fairly exhausted - this weekend can't come fast enough!

This morning around three, I woke up to use the bathroom, and was struck by the absence of the cat. He's usually in or near our room at night. I was too tired to actually think much about it, though, and went back to bed hoping he wouldn't come in and wake me up too early.

When the alarm went off, it almost surprised me. I slammed the snooze button once, then forced myself upright on the second alarm. (And the time really did pass just like that for me, too: Slam [pull arm back under blankets] [alarm goes off again] How annoying.)

Matt muttered that it was my turn to take the first shower, and that he'd let the cat in from the garage.

"He's in the garage?"

Matt was looking for his slippers. "Yep! He was a little stink!" This is what we say when the cat is being a pest.

"Was he?" I wondered. Usually the cat is a stink on my side of the bed, batting things off my bedside table, licking my face, that kind of thing. I was going to (privately) begin singing the Hallelujah Chorus if he'd finally decided to start pestering Matt instead.

Matt looked at me strangely. "Yeah," he said, "Right about eleven thirty?" He was obviously waiting for me to remember, but all I could do was shake my head. Matt described the incident to me in detail, and eventually some of it sounded vaguely familiar, but in all honesty, I don't really remember much of anything.

Guess those sleeping pills are good for something, at least!


Word of the Day: repugn - to contend against, to oppose

What a splendid old word. Now there's a verb with force! When it's not just enough to tell someone you reject them, no, now you can repugn them! Imagine how much more exciting politics would be if this word were still in common usage - we could get past the mudslinging and right down into the dirt!

"Your political platform changes with every train platform! Are you not enough of a man to stand up and tell the American people exactly what you have in mind? Don't you trust your voters to do what's best for this nation? Sir, I repugn you and your two-faced waffling!"

Yeah! It might almost be enough to make me care.

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