TODAY’S TEMPERATURE

Thirty Days of Thanks and Giving. DAY 14: TODAY’S TEMPERATURE Every morning when I walk into work I have to stop at the temperature station. In the shadow of COVID, one of the precautions requires that the thermometer reads below 100° or entry into the building is denied. I’m a substitute teacher. Students think I’m …

SPIDEY STICK

THIRTY DAYS OF THANKS AND GIVING. DAY 11: SPIDEY STICK Peter Parker (AKA Spiderman) has spidey sense, an extraordinary ability to sense imminent danger. I have a spidey stick. It’s not a superpower. It’s a stick. But it does keep me a step ahead of a certain imminent threat… the spider web.  This year has …

CORONATINE DAY 11

NIGHTMARE ON DISCO DECKMolly the rescue dog and I just spent an hour soaking up the sun on the deck. I chose to engage in a conversation with her about Ludwig van Beethoven. I wanted to hook her with an intro to the St. Bernard Beethoven and it looked promising. I moved carefully to Beethoven’s …

CORONATINE DAY 7

*Threw in a load of towels. The kid’s bedroom funk was still hovering in the washer. Pushed start anyway. They’re his towels; no harm, no foul. *Built a $130.00 Walmart pick-up order around “Maytag Affresh” washing machine cleaner that promises to be ten times better than bleach. *Had plenty of time to do something different …

CORONATINE DAY 6

*9:30 am - Health Dept contacts me to say our COVID tests came back negative, but we have to remain in quarantine for the remainder of our 14 days. *Did the math. We're not halfway yet. *10:00 am - woke the kid from his fake sleeping and told him he was late for homeschool. Me …

CORONATINE

CORONATINE DAY 3*Sent home from work because I was exposed to my husband 3 days before… turns out he’s positive for the Rona.*Cried a lot and ate a cheeseburger*Watched The Real Housewives. CORONATINE DAY 4*Parked at the orange cones in front of the Heath Dept. Secretly wondered if my fine would be doubled for speeding …

YESTERDAY I CRIED

Yesterday I cried. Not constantly, just several times throughout the whole day. The kind of cry where the tears come and I can’t stop them but I do. I didn’t reach the ugly cry. My eyes weren’t puffy and purple and burning. I wiped just enough tears off my cheeks to smooth out my makeup …

ZOOM IN ON A GRIN

This is how I’ve seen his face for the past three weeks: a screen between us. But today I saw THIS! A smile. A genuine, eye-sparkling, teeth showing, leaning in smile! You know what he was smiling at? Not another YouTube video. Not a win on a video game. Not even a friend’s message on …