They will have finished putting the lower branches on by now and the lighting ceremony is in a few hours. The tree was put up later this year than last, so I was happy to see it. We need things to celebrate together. Yes, I know not everyone celebrates Christmas. You wouldn’t know that at the grocery store this morning. It was not crowded and the Christmas music was blaring.
One of my students was at a new member event for the League last Friday and I am not sure how as I wasn’t there, but my classes came up. Two of the folks from that conversation have dropped in this week. It is fun to see these women I know from one context in another. One of them, a retired scientist and professor just lost her husband. I am happy to provide some supportive and healthy distraction.
I (mostly) took Thanksgiving off and rested and puttered around. I needed that so much.
When I got home from the store after teaching this morning, I was looking at my emails going, you know, I am just not ready to jump back into this. I did the few things I absolutely needed to do, but my eyes glazed over at the rest. I need to get over that.
Maybe I could try some deep relaxation. Or a combination of meditation and that. Some sort of restful break. An engaging book. All the good and useful distractions.
I am grateful for my classes because they do offer me a break where I am as much in the moment as I can be. I particularly notice this with the in-person class. This week it was like being in a cabin in the woods, the room is in a single-story building, and you can hear the rain on the roof.
My friend Mr. Zanzibar called from San Francisco yesterday. He is going to be 88 this next year and he is definitely melancholy about losing friends. He was calling a bunch of us to check in. To get the status, as one does as we get on a bit. He says it is so frustrating because inside he feels so much younger than he is, than his body is.
We did have Coffee Shop Philosophers again this week. One of the guys, who is older than Walt grew up in the same neighborhood in Seattle I did when I was a kid. He now lives in Tribecca in New York. He’s an actor and runs a Zen center. I asked him where he went to school and it turns out he went to the same high school as my oldest sister. She was two years ahead of him. They were surprised by that. We talked about The Prom. He is gay, but he had a female friend he knew from acting class and productions that would do all the boy/girl events with him. We are talking 1962, 1964. He was an official conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. He did service during the duration here at home.
When I mentioned that I was trying to think of something that was comparable for men as women of my generation being able to begin to wear pants, and suggested the draft, he suggested that it was probably more comparable to gay couples being able to marry or some of the breakthroughs of the civil rights era. I heard all their draft stories.
Walt wanted me to say that if I received a draft notice today that I would refuse to fight, to go, to participate. I told him that I wasn’t prepared to answer that question unequivocally. I am pretty sure I would have when I was 18, though. Walt was of the age where he was in the lottery, the other two guys are older and had to get deferments. Walt basically won the lottery by having a number in the 300’s so wasn’t called up.
If they do have Coffee Shop Philosophers next week, I won’t be able to participate as I have, you guessed it, a meeting. Bleh. I will go to the Dialogue Group on Thursday though.
I am not participating in the shopping extravaganza today. As I get older, the gifts get smaller and tend to be perishable. The last thing most everyone I know needs is more stuff. This might be a good year for cards too.
If things work out, I will be able to walk with Mrs. Sherlock this weekend. I am looking forward to seeing her in person after she had her heart procedure. In the meantime, I am going to the gym again. Twice a week. I don’t know how long I will be able to keep doing this with all the things, but for now I am making it work. The new fitness tracker is providing motivation.
It is sort of funny to think that I am using the gym as a procrastination tool for all the League stuff I need to be diving into but hey, it works and is healthier than say…cookies.
I am indulging in those too. In moderation.
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