Strange days

Do you ever wake up thinking that maybe you are just too weird to be  Homo Sapiens? Today is one of those days for me.  I woke up, hardly knowing my own bed.  I couldn't say whether it was good sleep or not.  I drank coffee I didn't like and stumbled through the morning routine like I was living someone else's life. And then Noah shoots me a shit-eating grin and tells me a joke that is so not funny that I can't help but laugh, and suddenly life is better. The clock ticks. Noah and I escaped yesterday's near miss with the school bus (which gave him practice for the 100 m), but half-way to work I get the call: "Hey, Mom, we (yes he said we), we forgot my clarinet" so I just add that to things to do after my meeting...which really turned out to be a very nice and much needed count to ten and breathe deeply moment that lasted about 40 minutes (not the meeting, but the drive back home and then to his school and back to work).

I brought valentines to the human services department head meeting today. I host the January meeting.  Oh well, at least I didn't bring Fourth of July cards and fireworks. I ate 5 Valentine's Day Hershey Kisses, in white and pink, and red wrappings, hoping to find one that wasn't white chocolate-- which I don't really care for, only to discover the bag back at the office said they were all white chocolate. Ugh. And all that doesn't begin to account for why I really feel so weird these days, and I still want to articulate that, but it seems like every time I'm on the verge of doing so, I stop short and just don't, and I'm going to do it again...

I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that- yes it’s true I’m here and I’m just as strange as you.
— Frida Kahlo

 Yes, Frida, I am thinking about you today more than ever.

There is a top-notch piece of writing on The Rumpus called The Throwaways by Melissa Chadburn that should be required reading for anyone who wants to weigh-in on matters of politics, and taxes, and social justice, and about what this country is or isn't and what it could be.  It makes my head spin, and perhaps that is partly why I feel strange today.

Peace and love, K