January 2022 – Page 5 – Michael Seidel, writer

Awakening on a sunny Sunday morning — which is what this January 23, 2022, is — always triggers happiness in my soul and childhood memories in my mind. Sunday was a day of rest and play. Yes, sorry, we weren’t churchgoers, except for Easter and Christmas. But I still worshipped the spirit of the outdoors and childhood, dressing fast, downing a bowl of cereal — my favorites were Wheaties, Raisin Bran, and Grape Nuts — and then spilling outside. Sometimes you’d wander outside and discover a neighboring friend doing the same. So you’d join up and ask the questions: “What do you want to do?” “I don’t know, what do you want to do?” We’d usually find something by heading down into the woods where the creek flowed, pulling out sports equipment, or jumping on our bikes. If not, I’d retreat to the house to read and draw.

Today’s sun invasion commenced at 0732 Local. The sun will retreat at 1714L. Temperatures stayed balmy yesterday and last night, which pleased the royal clowder. They went outside and the youngest stayed out. This morning’s temp at sunrise was 39 F. It’s since perked up to 53 and we expect to hit 61. Of course, the dry conditions keep us worried: please snow in the mountains, we tell the weather. We need that snowpack increased.

Today’s song is “I Think I Love You Too Much” covered by The Jeff Healey Band (1990). The song hit the morning mental music stream after I’d clicked through movie offerings the night before. I was interested in seeing all the great new movies the streaming service was offering. One of these was Roadhouse from 1989. Wasn’t real fond of Roadhouse but I liked Jeff Healey’s Band and their playing. I’d bought his album, Hell to Pay in 1990, and played it often, enjoying the bluesy rock sound. But this specific song then came after a floofnag kept pestering me for more — more food, more attention, more of everything — last night. My wife said something like, “He just loves you.” Flippant and exasperated, I replied, “I think he might love me too much.” The mental Alexa then announced that she was playing, “I Think I Love You Too Much”. And here we are.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vaccine and boosters when you can. Here’s the music, there’s my coffee, and here we go. Cheers

Fingerfloof (floofinition) – An animal obsessed with fingers.

In use: “He and the cat had shared a house for five years but it was only since the pandemic enforced staying at home that the cat had become a fingerfloof, seeking them while he slept in bed at night, read a book on a chair, or — the worst because it was the most intrusive — nuzzling his fingers when they rested on the mouse as he worked.”

Another day arrived. Called Saturday, January 22, 2022, it was laden with promise and dread, hope and weariness, much like other days. Daylight broke around 7:33 AM. A narrow stretch of white clouds, like snakes spotted slithering away, caught the first eastern light, gray, pink, and silver. Frost huddles in shadows as the temperature hung around 32 degrees F. The temperature has since marched briskly up to 37. The sun counsels us, don’t worry, we’ll get to the mid-fifties today. Then the sun will slip away (about 5:13, they say), and we’ll head toward midnight and a fresh new day.

Sarah McLachlan’s 1997 song, “Building A Mystery”, is the mental music stream’s morning inhabitant. A dream dialed the song up. Dreams enriched my slumber all night. The song was the final component of one dream that involved my wife, me, nekkidness, and a search for clothing in another person’s house. The song’s enigmatic words about an individual — perhaps a fucked-up man, which often is used to describe moi — was a nice echo to the dream’s fading scenes and is a good choice for today’s theme music.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed (make it an N95, if possible), and get the vax and booster jabs. Now you wait here. I’ll fetch the coffee. Here’s something to soothe your psyche while you wait. Cheers

The dream reminded me of a video game.

I was a young man striding up and down hills beside a well-maintained highway. A clear and sunny day with pleasant temperatures, I could see a long way and was enjoying the trees, grasses, and glimpses of the shiny city that was my destination. There were no cars anywhere. Like a video game, I had discovered power crystals. In hues of every color available to an artist on his palette, they were slightly smaller than a walnut. I had learned that possessing these crystals gave me powers. I was eager to collect as many as I could. As I gathered them, I would put them in me by pressing them against me until my body sucked them in.

Once in a while, I paused to test what I could do. Yes, I could fly. Yes, I was elastic man and could stretch my limbs. Yes, I could see greater and greater distances with sharper clarity. I could hear more and access people’s thinking. Then I could run faster. Amazed and delighted, I kept collecting crystals while slowly devising ideas about what I would do with my new powers.

Floofnag (floofinition) – An animal who can be annoying or irritating until they’re appeased.

In use: “Bevery tries organizing her day according to her priorities but it’s always subject to the floofnags — Pepper, a little Dachshund and his ally in mischief, a diluted calico named Dust — who demanded treats whenever she starts a Zoom meeting and has a consistent need to be in all rooms with her.”