Preventing Grace
In spite of me owning awesome new long underwear, the dog will not go outside for more than 37 seconds, which means I haven’t worn it outside for more than five minutes. In fact, he won’t even join us for school in the sunroom unless he can be held by someone. Likewise the cat, who normally arranges herself all over the school books, stalked up to me as I sat shouting at Elphine that ‘took’ is NOT spelled t o e k e or whatever she was writing on her paper as if the English Language can be subject to her every lazy whim or fancy, “English,” I thundered, “is difficult and beautiful and you! will rise to meet its standards!”…where was I?…oh yes, the cat jumped on my book and hit me with her vicious claw and then stalked away and I realized that I had done something wrong.
Someone posted on Facebook yesterday a list of old words that describe very particular things–like, there’s a word for the moment of sun in the middle of winter that provides momentary mental health and physical warmth. I didn’t save the post so for three days have been troubled by knowing that there is such a word out there but I don’t remember what it is. It’s the knowing that’s so painful. If I had never seen that there was this word, I would be perfectly comfortable.
Actually I’d just be irritated by something else.
In the morning I had to make the bed with the dog in it.
He would not budge. He bared his ridiculous underbite at me and growled.
I should have just chucked him out. But I controlled myself as best I could.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In