The First of Four Days Off

Ahhh. I love it when Mrs. Boss goes on the ski bus on Tuesdays in the winter and I have to work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. That means for 3 mos. I have 4-day weekends, every week! Not this year, though. She's going to be diving in Grand Cayman the end of January, spend 10 days diving in the Maldives in early February, and 2 weeks skiing in Colorado in late February/early March, so the first 3 weeks in January are her only ski bus weeks. I try to keep my enlarged paychecks in mind when I look at the calender. Good thing I've got a couple run-aways planned for this winter--3 days in Fish Creek with some friends in February and 4 in Sheboygan with a writing friend in March. Too much working makes me cranky. Today I'm going to Mom's to take pictures of her still-blooming-since-last-April orchid. She told me the other day that she's sure the "blog people" want to see more pictures. I think that means her sister. Mom's not on the 'net, she tried but just got frustrated. She's more of a phone person, that's how she keeps in touch with her family and friends. And I have library books to return and some holds to pick up. Do you library? For a while there I forgot how easy and convenient it is, cheap too, since you can just borrow the books for free and then return them. Now I only buy books by authors that I really love. I'm not so willing to spend money on books I might not like these days. Thrift comes late to me.

January 5--Katsushika Hokusai, The Great Wave at Kanagawa.

The foam on top of the breaking wave
looks like the white claws of polar bears
to the men in the boats
out on the sea.

The winter night falls fast,
the iron gray of the storm clouds
eats the daylight.

Far to the west Mount Fuji
sits calmly on the horizon,
the model of serenity.

The men watch
as the setting sun
paints the mountain-side golden.

The sight fills them
with confidence that
they will reach the shore

as the great wave
engulfs them.
~~~~~

Well, I couldn't just leave them bobbing around out there, now could I? That'd be cruel. I had to either save them or destroy them, and unfortunately for them, destroying's more interesting than saving. Besides, it's just pretend. Stay warm today.
--Barbara