Red Bird

I was surprised to see a Cardinal come to the feeder this morning.  It stayed for a while, even tolerating the House Finches to share the feeder with it eventually.  I haven't seen many birds this winter and no Cardinals so this was worth shortening my yoga practice thirty seconds to snap its picture.

 

It was sunny all day today and nearly 20 degrees so I took a walk this afternoon.  I didn't think it was very windy but regretted not wearing a scarf before I'd gotten to the end of the block so I zipped up my jacket as far as it goes and toughed it out.

 

Then I sat down with the February Doll Sweater and dived into the lace part.  I had to turn off my audiobook and recite the pattern out loud to get through it.  I've never been a lace knitter so it was a challenge.  Next comes the sleeves.  Lace in the round.  Heaven help me.  It's a good thing that I found a doll-size sweater to knit.  I'd have been in a snit if I was knitting a me-size one.

 23 January--Barbara Malcolm, The Seaview. 

Chapter 39

 Naturally Marie couldn't afford to pay for a room so she bunked down on the daybed in my studio.  It was nice to be able to see my kids after so long but suddenly I felt as if I were under surveillance.  In the morning after coffee and a bit of toast, we all went down to the Seaview. 

There was a note tacked to the back door and Silas was nowhere to be seen.  The note said that the second cargo container would be on the island freighter arriving that night and we should empty container number one so that it could go back to the dock when they had dropped off number two.  I had the second key to the padlock on the container; Silas had one too, so I opened it to see what exactly needed to be moved into the hotel.  Once I got past the tools and scraps of pipe and plywood there really wasn’t that much left in there. 

I called Silas and Iggy to tell them that the next container would be arriving and that I needed help emptying this one.  Both of them said that they would be over before noon to help. 

When I passed this info on to the kids, Will’s eyebrows rose so high that I thought they might just pop right off his forehead.  “They are coming today to help?  But isn’t it Saturday?”  He looked at Elizabeth who nodded that it was indeed Saturday. 

“We’ve worked quite a few Saturdays,” I said trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice, “I am capable of hiring responsible workers, even at my advanced age and general feebleness.” 

Will flung out a hand as if he could wipe out my words.  “Geez, Mom, all right, I get it.  You can take care of yourself and I’ll stay out of your way.”  He crossed his arms over his chest and stuck out his bottom lip in a classic brutz just like he had as a little boy. 

“Oh, all right,” I said, “I will drop it.  Sorry, but I couldn’t resist one last dig.”  I brushed my hands together.  “Let’s get started.” 

We worked for an hour pulling things out of the container, organizing them (Mr. Gomez and Edward should have been there for that.), and putting some of it into the hotel.  By the time we had gotten to the back of the container both Silas and Iggy had arrived and lent a hand.  They hauled the new sink, commode, and shower stall into my apartment bathroom, along with some of the PVC pipe that the plumbing crew would need to finish the job on Monday.

 

Today's toss was a skein of possibly the ugliest yarn ever made.  I don't know where it came from but I am confident that I didn't buy it.  Maybe it was part of a Goodwill grab bag.

Writing today was mundane.  What do you do first when you get up in the morning?  Why do you do that?  I ask you.  What kind of writing prompts are these?  They sound to me like some intrusive personal survey, not a springboard to creative writing.

--Barbara