Soapbox By Kay

Words to Weave With

A tiny toadstool in our front garden. Unrelated to the writing, except that it was as ephemeral as I’m feeling now.

This morning was the second time I’ve joined Firefly’s Morning Coffee writing session. I’m in Florida, they’re in Canada. Crazy how things work out. We all threw out words we like, and then chose from that list for our writing prompts. Even though I picked relatively positive words for my list, my writing took me down the same shadowed lanes my mind has been wandering the past few weeks.

Here’s a portion of today’s session, a poem of sorts:

My thoughts and feelings are messy
Bubbling up from that primal pit of fear
Until recently forgotten below the base of Laslow’s pyramid
I’ve been living happily on the 4th level, with occasional forays to the top
But now I find myself sitting on the bare boards of the bottom floor
The rug pulled out from under me

Steve returns from his dangerous hunting foray to the big box store
Crackling plastic bags carried in gloved hands
Our eco-conscious reusable shopping bags still in the pantry
The stores don’t want us to bring them; we don’t want germs to get on them

So, it’s back to disposables
Disposable bags
Disposable gloves
Disposable wipes
Disposable masks
Disposable people

Oh, wait – we’re not supposed to realize that last one
Or at least not say it right out loud….

My Social Distancing Reading List

It seems that possessing a smart phone has been a great hindrance to my reading time.

Since I will be working from home for the foreseeable future, and have gained an extra hour per day due to losing the commute, I don’t want my electronics (and the obsessive checking of them) to continue to suck away my time with nothing to show for it.

In setting up my new work space, I had to move around several stacks of books, and decided to make a reading list from some of the books that I obviously have wanted to read, since I went to the trouble of buying them and bringing them home.

And so, I present to you my Social Distancing Reading List. I might even become ambitious enough to post reviews as I finish them. At this point, anything could happen, right?

“Love me, love my dog”

I haven’t been posting here lately because all my energy is going to my mother’s care, and all my writing efforts toward processing everything that involves are going to Not The Roommate I Expected.

My dismay at much of our daily “news” is too much for me to process and write about. It makes my brain hurt and the idea of researching it more in-depth in order to provide proper citation, etc. etc., makes my brain hurt even more and also makes my stomach hurt a little. Fortunately, my friend, Harold, frequently conveys the essence of what I’m feeling, and helps me realize I’m not alone in this dismay.

I’m basically a small-town corn-fed bumpkin from Western Nebraska who found out he was gay and probably above-average in intelligence at about the same time in 2nd or 3rd grade. Even though I didn’…

Source: Love me, love my dog

No Excuse Mammogram

Mammograms are no fun, and I’m not even sure how effective they are for women with no family history of cancer, but my main excuse for not getting one done was the inconvenience. When the MammoBus showed up in my campus parking lot, I couldn’t use that excuse any more.

Okay – nice interior, comfy waiting area, free pens and mints. This might not be so bad.

And look – a nice, pink wrap! I don’t look nervous at all, right?

And there’s the beast. The only improvement since the last time is that the surfaces are cold plastic, which is not quite as uncomfortable as cold stainless steel.

Well, ladies – if I can do it, you can do it. But I don’t think I’ll do it again.