Le Chat Bleu

I'm inside my apartment wearing a woolen hat, outside my window, it's starting to snow. I don't need to be wearing this hat, it's toasty enough in here, I guess, but I'm going through several transitions today. First, I just got back from Florida early, early this morning. The flight home was bumpy and traumatic enough for me to be near prayers and gave me greater resolve, now that I am not at the bottom of that ship's canal which borders the Newark Airport runway, to make this a very good year. Good.

Second, I got on the scale this morning and it was not good. Despite running some miles every day while on vacation, there was considerable counterbalancing going on which resulted in a new gain of bulk. I now believe that carrying a Ziploc baggie of M&Ms while on a run is not a good idea. I repent.

Third, I've got all this unpacking to do. All these odd items I fail to recognize as I push the woolen hat back off on my brow. Here's a sleeveless shirt with a picture of a humuhumunukunukuapuaa (that's pronounced...oh never mind.). I didn't get to wear this shirt this year; there was really only one really good beachy day with nice hot hot feelings coming up from the sand and young girls coated with enough oil to prepare them for either the sun rays or anyone with a large enough saute pan to make "Bikini Trio A Flambe".  What's this in this plastic bag? Sandals. Does anything look more like an alien object than a pair of sandals held up to the window light as outside snow slants by and the wind shakes the naked dead branches of the trees?

I know they are not dead. I'm depressed. This morning I hung up the new kitchen calendar (zen sayings and flowers) and leafed through last year's (art work by Govinder including one very odd looking blue cat.). I usually like looking through the old calendar. Look, here's the Sunday you set aside to go to MoMa. Here's the boatride in July, the dinner in May, but this year, I seemed to have skipped writing anything down except when I ordered the new water filter filters and three weekends when the A train would not be running.

There are the 351 emails to sort. (His finger hovers over the DELETE ALL command. If it's really important they will call or email again, right?) I need to balance the checkbook and check the credit cards online for any weird charges....(What? Exactly $15.70 two days apart at the market? Oh, yeah. Papers, Bagels and Butter....sigh) I'm going to scan through all the sunset pictures and the wave pictures and the pelican pictures. I have to sweep up this little pile of sand.

I'm going out in a little while to get some groceries, but first an hour's nap and an attempt to remember the little bursts of vertigo induced terror from last night. They made me feel so good when they stopped.