It’s gonna be a bright, bright, bright, sunny day, if the opening hours are to judge. Got cold last night — 33 degrees F, so not freezing, but cold — cold enough for the cats to decline their nocturnal outings (“Are you crazy? I’m not going out there.”) — and the sun broke through with a fierce come back at the early time of 5:51 AM. While it’s clear, a cold front cleared out the clouds, so we’ll be seeing a high of only 51 F. Maybe 53. We’ll see. Sunset will take over at 4:58 PM.
h/t to That Oregon Life on Facebook.
Today is Sunday, November 7, 2021. A disco fever song is burning the morning mental music stream. “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees came out in 1978. After that, there was no escapin’ the song, or the Bee Gees. Bee Gee music and this particular song seemed to be everywhere, mostly because the music was from Saturday Night Fever, a movie with tsunami-like cultural impact on the U.S. I thought, given the environmental response to the pandemic — wear a mask, socially distance, stay true to your pod, isolate and quarantine when necessary — that it’s a good song for this era.
Now it’s time for my first coffee of the new time period. Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax and booster when you can. Here’s the music. Cheers
Saturday’s sunrise came at 7:50 AM, flashing sunlight at us for a second like a busy executive stopping by to say hello to the team before sprinting on to other matters. After that flicker of sunlight, clouds shrouded in charcoal moved in, sniffing with disdain, loosing a little drizzle, keeping the air cold. It’s 47 degrees F now but we’re optimistic that it’ll break 50 before the sun’s face turns away at 5:59 PM.
Today is November 6, 2021. That means we’re turning our clocks back tonight in most of the U.S. (Okay, technically, we do this at 2 AM on the seventh. But I’ll do it before going to bed, right?) So tomorrow’s sunrise will be an hour earlier. Sunset will also be an hour earlier: before 5 PM in my niche of season. But we do get that one extra hour to do things. I’ll use it for sleep, cats permitting. The cats don’t recognize daylight savings time and clock changes. They stay faithful to their inner workings. When they start clamoring for their first breakfast at 5:50 AM, it’ll now be 4:50 AM. Some adjustments will be required by them, and some coping by me.
Let’s not let all that stop us from rocking. The plan is to stay inside, warm and dry, except for a late-afternoon constitutional. Eat a little food. Drink a cuppa coffee. Maybe bake a pie. (Yes, that’s my new definition of ‘rocking’.) Meanwhile, “Somebody to Love” by Queen (1976) is circling the morning mental music stream. These words conjured this song:
I just gotta get out of this prison cell One day (someday) I’m gonna be free, Lord!
h/t to AZLyrics.com
Those lyrics are firmly rooted in the ongoing limitations provoked by the COVID pandemic. I look forward to visiting coffee shops on a casual, recurring basis. On running down to the store without donning a mask. Visiting friends without querying them about vaccines, boosters, and pods. One day I’m gonna be free! Until then, I’ll remain cautious, wary, wearing a mask as needed, distancing, seeking the booster, and trying to remain positive.
Here’s the music, and right on schedule, here is my coffee. Let’s be safe out there. Cheers
Calcifloofcation(floofinition) – State of stiffness in people caused by lack of movement incurred when they do not want to disturb an animal.
In use: “He could feel calcifloofcation settling into his body, was growing hungry to the point where he was ready to declare he was starving (especially because he knew one piece of pumpkin remained in the kitchen), and his bladder felt on the verge of bursting, but a cat slept on his chest and a dog snored on his legs, and he didn’t want to disturb them, so he endured.”
I woke up thinking, this feels like Saturday. I knew it was Thursday and sacrificed about ten minutes thinking about why this Thursday felt like a Saturday. Only thing that emerged was that I had no reason to leap out of bed. No structure of rushing off to work, or hurrying somewhere to meet someone. No urgency to leave the house and go to a coffee shop and write. Yeah, we’re still under COVID-19 restrictions. I haven’t gotten the booster, and my wife has underlying issues. Well, I have some, too. Underlying issues is part of the aging gift package for many of us.
Anyway, today is Thursday, November 21, 2021. Lackluster weather. A bit of sunshine burst through and fired some joy through my synapses. Seeing this, a heavy cloud hurried over and blocked the sunshine. The temperature is 52 F and there’s no indication that it’ll get any warmer than 56 F. Sunrise came at 7:47 AM and sunset will launch at 6:01 PM. Basically, we’re coming down to eight hours of sunshine per day.
I’m a little aggro this morning. Feel like I’m on the precipice of my monthly trough, sliding down toward the dark waves. The cats didn’t help this AM. Opened one of their favorite foods. They all chowed down but one returned, asking for more. I fed him and he gobbled away. Then, as I was preparing my brekkie, he walked in and puked at my feet. Three facets then emerge: why did he puke? Just eating too much too fast? Two, damn it, there’s a mess to clean. Three, damn it, I’m hungry and I need to clean this up before I can eat my oatmeal. Bah.
Trying to get the vax booster is also agitating me. Websites are all, we have the boosters! Make an appointment. But. They then ask about which vaccine I’ve had. I received the J&J. These websites — RiteAid, Fred Meyers, Costco, the three primary sources for COVID-19 shots in our area — all then direct me to get a J&J booster. Which I don’t want; I desire a Moderna. This is per CDC guidance. All their websites say that as a J&J recipient, I can have whichever shot I prefer. Yet their appointment form won’t let that happen.
I complained to my friends last night about it. They clearly weren’t paying deep attention, telling me, “Just go to the Fred Meyers website, just go to the Costco website, just go to the RiteAid website.” Exasperating, n’est pas?
Other acquaintances relate that they made appointments only to show up and discover either the vaccine of the people to administer it wasn’t available. But others made appointments and got the shots, no prob. Seems like a dice game when it comes to getting the booster, just as it was back when we were trying to get the vax.
Oddly, perhaps, all this angst and irritation stems from having strong writing sessions. I get immersed in the writing; pulling out to participate in real world activity requires a major energy shift. I don’t want to give it many times. Just let me keep writing, damn it world.
I had “Sister Golden Hair” flowing through the morning mental music stream. A Rush song, “Show Don’t Tell” from 1989, supplanted it.
How many times do you hear it? It goes on all day long Everyone knows everything And no one’s ever wrong Until later
Who can you believe? It’s hard to play it safe But apart from a few good friends We don’t take anything on faith Until later
Ah, good music for this Thursday for me. Stay positive — hard some days, innit? — test negative, wear a mask as the situation requires, and get the vax and booster when you can. Now, excuse me, but a cuppa coffee is screaming my name. Here’s the music. Cheers.
Floof Code(floofinition) – 1. Set of rules imposed on animals by humans.
In use: “The house’s floof code dictated, no cats on the counter, no dogs on the sofa, and no fighting, but the four amigos often broke the three rules.”
2. Official standards and guidelines established by the United Federation of Floofs regarding how animals will interact and treat one another.
In use: “Although the Floof Code was agreed upon over twenty-five years ago, widespread adoption among all species has been slow, with cantankerous species like crocodiles and alligators stubbornly refusing to accept it.”
Panfloofmonium – (floofinition) – Wild and noisy disorder, confusion, or uproar caused by animals, especially pets.
In use: “The two cats decided on a mad dash, releasing wild meows as they galloped about, attacking air, causing the dog to freak out and start barking in alarm, while the bird mimicked a police siren, and the children laughed at the panfloofmonium.”
One of the dream snippets that punctuated today’s conscious film was about soldiers and jaguars.
My wife and I were walking through a green park. We’re looking to the right where large men dressed in military field uniforms are gathered. It’s not a large contingent. They’re behind a sort of flimsy barricade made of aluminum or some other light material. We’re trying to figure out what they’re doing over there. As we slow and watch, we realize there are jaguars among the soldiers. I’m talking the feline beast. Some of these are large adults. Most of the jaguars are dressed in little jackets around their torsos. These jackets are either turquoise and gold, or purple and gold. The jaguars are on leashes. The soldiers hold the leashes.
We — my wife and I — are saying, “What on Earth?” Why would the military have jaguars? Why are the animals dressed like that? Neither of us have ever heard or seen anything like it. As we’re slowly resuming our walk through the park, but still watching, a jaguar breaks free of the enclosure and handler and rushes toward us. This jaguar is young, though. Small and cute, like a kitten the size of a Maine coon cat. A leash trails behind it. It hurries toward us as we stop and bend toward it, smiling and laughing because it’s so cute. As it gets closer, it becomes confused and wary. Slowing, the animal pauses, then thinks about going in another direction. Meanwhile, a large black soldier, grinning and laughing, jogs up, apologizing about his new cat getting away from him.
Floofiverse(floofinition) – Totality of existence, as far as an animal is concerned.
In use: “The dog’s floofiverse began and ended with his yard and his people, although his floofiverse expanded and contracted as his humans took him for rides and walks, which was great, as long as he was with them.”
2. A cosmological model supporting the Fur Theory, which holds that all matter is created from fur and hair shed by animals.
In use: “Keri was dubious of the Fur Theory and the idea of a Floofiverse — which, according to Floofology, held that the universe and its matter was a subset of the Floofiverse created as something to occupy human’s attention, sort of like a bell inside a plastic ball — but she was beginning to be a believer. It certainly seemed like everything was made of cat and dog hair, she thought, on her knees, cleaning animal fur from her carpet, which she had just done yesterday.”
Dia de los Floofos(floofinition) – A celebration of animals with an emphasis on those who have gone over the rainbow bridge, normally celebrated between October 31 and November 2.
In use: “She was always circumspect about observing dia de los floofos, quietly opening a binder with photographs of her fur friends, like little Jojo, a sweetheart if there ever was one, Bumble, who disappeared one night and was never seen again, and Max, her first fur friend, a big white dog given to her as a pet when she was a little girl.”
Sunrise crept in like a drunk husband trying not to awaken his wife at 7:41 AM this morning. Barely lifted the gloom it seems. Shortly before sunrise, rumbling like metal wheels across broken cement awoke me. As I puzzled through the loud sound, it came again, confirming for my surprised being, why, that’s thunder. Thunder just rolled around the valley again like a marble in a roulette wheel, and rain is drumming its fingers over the rough. We call it stormy Saturday, October 30, 2021.
The rain and clouds are gonna keep it cool, you bet. The current temperature is 54 degrees F. Some say that it will reach 56 F today; others are claiming 61. We’ll see how warm it gets before the sun takes its contribution from us at 6:07 PM.
Feeding the cats inspired the occupant of my morning mental music stream today. The song is by Kiss, “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”, from 1979. Only, me being sleepy because it was half past dark still and the little flooftators were acting hangry, stumbled out of bed and told them, “Yes, please let me feed you. I was made for feeding you kitties. That’s all I live for.” That’s certainly what it felt like at that moment when my crankmeter was up high because I wanted sleep. Anyway, the song remained in my head after I flushed my dreams and made breakfast, so, lucky you! Here you go. My choice for Saturday’s theme music. It’s a bit o’rock and disco with a large dollop of glam. Like those shoes. Oh, those shoes.
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed by the situation, and get the vax and booster when you can. Let’s be careful out there. On to coffee. Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 