Better Now

It wasn't pretty but I spent yesterday battling the crowds and doing a bit more online shopping--and I think I'm done. Well, I'm pretty much quitting. Next comes tree-putting-up and treat making. I can do those and I won't have to go out with all those crabby, pushy people. People look at you funny when you're smiling and polite this time of year. I made a man at Barnes & Noble fall in love with me yesterday when I told him I wasn't in a hurry for the book he ordered for me. He wanted me to stay in the store and say it over and over, really loudly, all day. He even poked a co-worker and asked me to repeat it for her so that she'd smile too. It was funny--and rather sad. After lunch DS came over for a knit in the round lesson, while he was making his second attempt at it, I went out and filled the feeders for the first time since Blizzard Aiden. It was an adventure.

December 18--Honshu.


Jagged white rocks
jut from the sea
like shark's teeth
snapping up any morsel
foolish enough to stray
into its path.
Dark green trees above
darker water
emphasize their pallor.
Legends abound,
tell of pure maidens
sacrificed for honor,
samurai giving their
lives in loyal service,
when its simple
geology that holds
the key.
~~~~~~~~~

I hope you're closing in on being Christmas-ready, or at least can see it in the distance. Merry times!
--Barbara