Friday, October 23, 2026

     When I am 18 before going to college, my father hires me to be his assistant in leading a large group of pilgrims to visit Majorca, Spain and various European cities. I am mostly responsible for not losing people or luggage during the 6 week trip. We have two buses and use several different hotels each night. I tie ribbons on luggage so they got to the right hotels and I kept track of stragglers. I find bathrooms for the travelers and keep them boarding the right buses. Maybe he realizes my special skill is getting things done. We actually lose one person who slips away on a drinking binge. We don’t lose any luggage.

     After several hours of attempts to sleep I turn on the lights and sit up in my blue recliner. I can’t force myself to fall asleep. So I check my computer apps, plat computer solitaire, and then read a current New Yorker until my body decides sleep might be an option.

     Most of the Thursday is cloudy and cool until the rain starts. I never go outside, always a mistake. Walking outside is therapeutic for me. Cloudy cold morning today.  Seagulls squawking in the distance.

     In the evening, I am home alone. I watch an episode of YOUTH, looks promising and then another episode of the older series, MAJOR CRIMES. I continue to read EXIT PARTY, a very complicated novel. I get confused with the various names of the characters. My roommate focuses on the upcoming local election. I watch the national predictions on TV. At this point all news is just filler material as we hold our breath for the real results of the election. The incompetent president keeps up with his lies.

 

 Thursday, October 22, 2026

     My 80 year old father talks to four of us siblings during a birthday visit many years ago. He says he is proud of us. You each have your own special talents. The youngest is a medical scientist, the next a historian scholar, and the third an artist.   What about me I ask. Well, you are the practical one who gets things done. For years I ponder that unsatisfactory label.  I want to be a distinguished expert like my siblings.

     All day we waited for the rain that never comes.  Clouds, small gusts of wind. Late in the afternoon I turn on the heater. I am tired of being cold. The oak trees look desperate for rain.

     My roommate is busy all day out of the house, and gives out more baskets of tomatoes to friends. I hang out at home, doing chores, reading and taking a nap.

     In the evening, I search through different TV lists and hit upon a documentary about the comedian, Marc Moran, ARE WE GOOD. We watch the whole show, laugh some, mostly interesting. I am now reading Emily St. John Mandel’s new novel, EXIT PARTY. I love her work. All the news seems to be focused on predicting who is going to win the election.  Meanwhile the wars continue and inflation rises. The world is falling apart.

 

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

     I take my roommate for her medical appointment and again am asked for safety reasons, to park in the dark garage to pick her up.  No lights there but some openings to let it some spots of natural light. My anger flares as I argue with the staff person. It is too dark for me to manage. I watch other cars whip in and out.  I can see in dark spaces as long as I have time to adjust. I hope I will figure it out.

     The rain is coming today and I will see if the repair on the skylight will hold. The beginning of rainy season is always a challenge. My roommate gives neighbors baskets of her garden tomatoes. CVS Caremark corrects the problem I point out to them, so all is good with my prescriptions.

     I put my two fluffy chickens back on the living room table.  I have more to put out. They have lived in a pile in the corner and now want to join us in the living room.

     We watch the last episodes of THE DIPLOMAT and SLOW HORSES, each with a dramatic cliff hanger.  Next year we will learn what happens next. I like REGIME CHANGE book but it is too upsetting to read at night time. So I spend the late evening polishing my skill at computer solitaire. I am slowly learning how to win more games.  The more I learn about the deceitful president the more dangerous the world seems.