Wrapped Up

This morning I carried the Christmas wrap upstairs, unfolded my cutting mat on the spare bed,and wrapped the Christmas gifts.  Somehow it seemed like more before I wrapped them but then I remembered that I'd already shipped off the ones for the Kentucky folks.  Better.  I even wrapped LC's birthday gifts ready for her January 3 day to turn seven.  Seven!  How did she get that old so quickly?

 

The Downy Woodpecker was back at the suet cake feeder today.

Tonight was the Bay Lakes Knitting Guild Zoom meeting.  I had just the right number of rounds left to knit for two hours and get to the crown decreases.  Luckily I have Zoom knitting again tomorrow night so I can hopefully manage to not screw it up while talking.  Maybe I'll have a finished hat to show you tomorrow.

17 December--Barbara Malcolm, The Seaview. 

Chapter 24

                        Iggy and I went to Johnno's jump-up the next Sunday.  I was surprised by how many people I recognized.  Iggy went to get us drinks at the bar as I wove between tables, talking to people from the neighborhood and the town.  It seemed to me that there were a lot more locals than tourists but I hadn't been on the island long enough to know if that was normal.

            Iggy came back with a pair of tall rum punches that we barely sipped before the band started and the dance floor was jammed.  He took my hand and tipped his head toward the crowd.  I nodded and we joined the dancers.

            All of my crew was there too.  As soon as the first song ended Edward claimed me for the next dance.  I saw Iggy being led away by a middle-aged island woman.  I danced with Silas next and then Zeke before the band launched into a slow song.  I turned around expecting to find Iggy reaching out to claim my hand but he was dancing with a different woman and seemed to be deep in conversation.

            I went back to my seat to rest and have a sip of my drink.  I noticed quite a few women watching Iggy and his partner closely.  When the ballad ended Stanley came up to ask me to dance.  I nodded but my eyes didn't leave Iggy.  Another of the watching women claimed him and she too talked to him the whole time.

            I kind of danced Stanley and myself over toward Iggy so that I could dance with him next, but when I'd thanked Stanley and turned toward Iggy yet another woman had a grip on him and she actually elbowed me out of the way.  I stepped back in surprise and made my way to the table and my drink, now mostly water.

            For the next hour I stayed in my seat refusing all invitations to dance and watched as half-dozen women threw themselves at Iggy.  Remembering Dru Brooks' comments about how the local widows and divorcees would feel when they learned that we were dating, I suspected that I was seeing a demonstration of those feelings.  The tallest of the women spent her dance with him doing nothing more than rubbing herself and her hands all over him.  It didn't look like he minded all that much.

            I went home.

            I debated whether to go to bed and turn out the lights or to sit up waiting and stewing.  I decided to sit up and stew.  I showered and got dressed in some lounge pants and a t-shirt then sat on the daybed paging through an ancient magazine that was in the room when I arrived and not seeing a word.

            My brain whirred like an out of control windmill.  Was I falling in love with Iggy or were my hormones just waking up after being widowed?  I thought about the way I felt around him, the way we were so easy together from the start, and how well we seemed to fit together.

            After an hour I couldn't sit any longer and ended up pacing from the kitchenette to the patio door, a path of barely fifteen feet.  My ears perked up every time I heard people passing by the entrance to Sydan's and if they turned in, my breath caught thinking it might be Iggy.

Today's toss was another set of Trivial Pursuit cards.  I realized that I need to slow down my tossing because I won't be going to Goodwill to empty the back of the car next week since I'm isolating for Christmas.  It's funny how different it feels even though I've been staying home for months, this purposeful isolation is making me feel trapped.  I'll make it.  I'm determined.

Writing went okay today.  I took a walk this morning even though it was gray and dreary, at least it wasn't windy.  Cold, though.  Good thing I had a hat, scarf, and mittens.  I kept hearing fireworks, then I realized that Titletown park has a light show that ends with some fireworks.  I can barely see a few sparkles through the bare trees.

--Barbara