John Said
Eflooftilogical
Eflooftilogical (floofinition) – Relating to the study of the limits, origins, and nature of animal knowledge.
In use: “May people owned by pets unintentionally embrace eflooftilogical thinking about why their animals do things as they do, such as why their floof friend is attracted to the house guest who professes not to like animals.”
Tuesday’s Theme Music
Sunset is expected at 5:27 PM today. Sunrise came at 7:23 AM. I did the math: ten hours of sunlight plus a few extra minutes.
I can see it easily in the morning. When Papi the ginger mischief maker wants out for his regular 5:50 AM jaunt, false dawn has come up to light the area. By the time I get up, sunlight is flirting with the rain clouds, trying to entice them into showing a little blue sky.
Today is Tuesday, the second of February, 2021. I was thinking about my writing and the novel in progress as I rotated through morning routines of ablutions, feline feedings, breakfast making, blind opening. Into that mix came an Oasis song from 2000, “Go Let It Out”. The first line was the hook: “Paint no illusion, try to click with whatcha got.”
That’s how writing progresses, innit? You work with whatcha got.
Stay positive and test negative. Wear a mask and get vaccinated. Paint no illusion, try to click with whatcha got.
The Night Of
Nine PM was approaching. My wife and I were focused on a German television show, “The Nordic Murders”, depending on the captioning to understand the language. An entertaining show, we were commenting on the clothing and differences from American television while guessing motives. Two of the house’s three cats slumbered on the floor.
A sudden hard thumping from under the house drew our attention. Grabbing the remote, I froze the screen. “Under the house,” I said. “The skunk.”
We rushed the window and drew up the blinds. The night was dark. Two lights with sensors had been installed outside for events like these. They remained unlit.
The room fell silent. I moved toward the room’s doorway and began speaking, looking back as I did. Behind my wife, on the room’s other side, I saw the outside lights go on. Pointing, I called, “Lights, lights,” and strode toward the window.
My wife leaned over and looked out. “Something ran out. It headed toward the front door.”
I pivoted, hurrying toward the front. “Come on.” As I went, I detoured left. “Flashlight, wait.” My wife kept on to the door. As I joined her, I flicked on the outside light. She unlocked the door and opened it, saying as she did, “It must have been two skunks because I don’t — “
Skunk smell slammed me in the face. Back-pedaling, I shouted, “Skunk, skunk, close the door, close the door.” My wife whipped it close.
We stood there, staring at one another as the skunk’s spray wafted around us. “Get the air purifier,” my wife ordered. “Hurry, hurry.”
As I returned with the air purifier from the other room, she turned on the bathroom fan. “Do you think the purifier will help? Should we turn on the furnace fan?”
The smell was rising and engulfing us. “No, let’s just use the room exhaust fans and the purifier.” I went around turning them on.
A few tense hours were endured as the scent rose and fell. The purifier labored through the night. Morning brought relatively skunk-free air.
Outside, I put the board back in place. It’s there mostly to make noise when the skunk goes in and out to alert us about her activity. We speculated from what we’ve read and learned that something had gone under the house and threatened the skunk. She retaliated. But what really happened that night, we’ll never know.
Boy Floof
Boy Floof (floofinition) – Flooflish singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known as the lead singer of the floof pop (floop) band Culture Floof, he also scored success as a solo performer.
In use: “As lead singer for Culture Floof, Boy Floof’s voice was heard on such hits like “Karma Floofmeleon” and “Floof of the Poison Mind.”
A Repairing & Painting Dream
I was in a place of business. What business? I knew in the dream but that knowledge wasn’t transferred when I awoke.
We were fixing up the place. I’m not certain if we were preparing for visitors or if we were selling the place and moving out. That seemed uncertain, like it was possible that both were happening. We were painting the place a soft white in some places and a pale blue in other areas. I was directly doing or organizing most of the work and explaining to others what had been done, what’d failed, and what needed to be done. Walking around, I pointed out places where damage had been painted over on the walls, especially on the wall to the right, by the corner, and ceiling, telling them, “That needs to be redone. We need to fix it before it’s painted, because you can see the damage, and if you can see the damage, it’s probably worst underneath.” All were nodding and agreeing.
Later, I changed clothes and walked to my car to leave. My new clothes were a light blue shirt with tan pants and jacket. When I reached my car, I realized that I didn’t have the key fob; I’d left that in my other pants. Irritated with myself for overlooking the key fob, I stood and debated about what to do, as if there was a choice, right? Accepting it, I began walking back.
Monday’s Theme Music
Welcome. Today is the first day of the second month of 2021, a.k.a. Feb. 1. And it’s a Monday. Sunrise was 7:24 AM and sunset will be 7:25 PM, for ten hours and one minute of sunshine, in theory, here in Ashland, Oregon. Currently sitting at 50 degrees F, our weather is comfortable mix of clear sky, clouds, and sunshine with the potential for rain, clear sky, and sunshine.
January, 2021 went by like whipped cream from a can, with a lot of hissing and noise but quick. After an attempted coup and a whole lot of lies from the outgoing POTUS and the GOP, a new POTUS was sworn in. With it comes a new era. Yeah, fingers crossed on that. I know, in many ways, it’s frustrating BAU, but some sense of our values and processes are restored. Having Trump gone and Biden in isn’t an elixir; work is required.
With all these changes, today’s song came as I turned over my wall calendar. Yes, I keep a wall calendar. It’s sentimental of me. Produced by a photography, it’s of the Group 7 Can-Am racing series, the racing I most fervently followed as a young teen.
Today’s song is “Turn the Page”. Originally written and recorded by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band in 1972, it was released in 1973, but the 1976 live version is the cover I always turn to. Be positive. Test negative. Wear a mask. Get vaccinated. Move forward. Turn the page.
Here’s the music.
Floofpedition
Floofpedition (floofinition) – An animal’s journey or excursion undertaken for a specific purpose.
In use: “Each night when his cat left the house, he acted like he was undertaking a floofpedition. To satisfy his curiosity, Michael ended up buying a tracking collar with a small camera mounted to it, along with a set of outside cameras to help him follow his floof around.”
