- I started reading The Friend by Sigrid Nunez. At first, the tone was winning. Now it’s turned dark, and I am finding excuses not to pick it up. This says more about me than the book.
- Received a beautiful pair of hand-knitted mittens in the work Secret Santa.
- Starting to fully accept that I will never learn how to knit or sew properly because I would rather read or take a bath.
- Icelanders seem to eat more sauces than Americans, and I do understand why. Mmmm.
- The new house (yup, we finally bought a house) has got lovely acoustics in the living room. Singing along with the radio, I’m chuffed – even cocky. Who cares if it’s merely room shape – I’ll take it.
Sounds: Before and now
In the morning—
Street-sweepers—the thick, slapping sound of brushes sliding against wet pavement.
Birds singing in the forest behind the house.
Birds owned by my neighbor in the apartment building on the other end of the vacant lot.
At night—
Hundreds of bottles breaking, when I lived above a bar.
The rumble and thud of small children running, when I lived below a family.
Jack-hammers humming, when I lived in an old office building on Allen street.
Now—
Wind whistling and writhing. Gusts of air pulsing and heaving, shaking tree branches and rattling windows. No pattern or predictability. Just pressure.
