My goodness, it's Monday! On Wednesday, I was waiting impatiently to adopt a new dog. Today, I'm happy to report Sylvia, the eight-month-old Weimaraner formerly known as Duchess, has become part of the Keranen Clan, just in time for Valentine's Day. Pictures to come, when she stops moving long enough to be more than a blur! She is a love.
On a slightly higher level in the love category, Gene and I were honored to bear witness to fellow poet Naoko Fujimoto & her now husband Aaron's wedding on Saturday at St. Patrick's church. The whole affair was stunningly beautiful. Yes, I cried when I saw Naoko walking down the aisle. We will all remember that day for a long time with fondness and hope.
The romance this weekend just kept coming. After Naoko's wedding, Tom's girlfriend Mary and I went on a date to watch our guy play with the South Bend Symphony. Well, that is almost true. It's more accurate to say we heard him play with the Symphony. He gave us comp tickets in the balcony, where we could see every single musician except him! He sounded great, though.
Finally, to top off the weekend, Gene, Tom, Mary and I stuffed ourselves at The Original Pancake House before touring Sacred Heart Basilica. Naoko's wedding put us in a Catholic art mood. I hadn't visited Sacred Heart since I was a child in grade school. I only remembered a little girl in a glass case. I always thought she was real! She was still there, but rather wooden to my eyes this time around, her relics boxed up beside her. She slept her wooden sleep surrounded by the art in the basilica, which overwhelmed us. The motions of Catholicism are always fascinating to behold.
Now we're back at it: homework, work-work, dog-work, marriage-work. Maybe some poetry, too.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Adopting Tails
I am waiting, impatiently, to adopt a new dog. It's crazy. I've filled out dog adoption forms. Now the refuge place is checking all my references, calling my vet, seeing if I'm worthy to care for a new dog. They raised their eyebrows when I told them about my seven cats. They wondered if perhaps I had reached my limit.
I began to feel bad. A little nutty. Then I drove out into the country with my 15-year-old dog Stella to see our farmland vet. She was running late. Some dog patient had to have emergency surgery for an enlarged spleen. The size of a basketball! A real Indiana dog! Everything in Indiana has to be related in basketball terms.
So all the dogs and cats and their owners sitting in the waiting room got chatty. The conversation, of course, ran to the dogs, and cats. One person rescues Huskies. One person rescues Rat Terriers. Daughters and sons attend Purdue and study animals! Everyone has cats. Lots of cats. 15 cats. 20 cats. Abandoned cats fill the yards and barns. I felt almost cat poor. We all have our cats spayed or neutered, but there are always more!
Eventually Stella and I make it back to the exam room. Stella has a growth that must be clipped out of her ear. They muzzle her and do it quickly, with no anesthesia, because she's just too old. Driving home I feel better. Not so nutty. Just another animal lover doing her thing.
Today I'm still waiting to see if the animal refuge organization agrees.
I began to feel bad. A little nutty. Then I drove out into the country with my 15-year-old dog Stella to see our farmland vet. She was running late. Some dog patient had to have emergency surgery for an enlarged spleen. The size of a basketball! A real Indiana dog! Everything in Indiana has to be related in basketball terms.
So all the dogs and cats and their owners sitting in the waiting room got chatty. The conversation, of course, ran to the dogs, and cats. One person rescues Huskies. One person rescues Rat Terriers. Daughters and sons attend Purdue and study animals! Everyone has cats. Lots of cats. 15 cats. 20 cats. Abandoned cats fill the yards and barns. I felt almost cat poor. We all have our cats spayed or neutered, but there are always more!
Eventually Stella and I make it back to the exam room. Stella has a growth that must be clipped out of her ear. They muzzle her and do it quickly, with no anesthesia, because she's just too old. Driving home I feel better. Not so nutty. Just another animal lover doing her thing.
Today I'm still waiting to see if the animal refuge organization agrees.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Curiouser and Curiouser
Q. Okay. Have you ever been diagnosed with any sexually transmitted diseases?
A. No, I have not, but let me tell you for the record, that I was raped while I was married to my husband. This happened -- it happened at the time that I was -- well, I met one man in particular, but I got raped by three men at the same time and that's what made me decide that I did not want to cheat on my husband anymore.
Q. Did you ever meet with any women that you sought to find via a Craig's List posting?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And was the purpose of that meeting to engage in a sexual liaison?
A. In my mind, no, it wasn't. I was curious. Did one ultimately lead to it, yes. I, however, did not do anything immoral. I did not do anything illegal. I did not ever do anything in front of my children. And I've since repented for my sin and I am leading my life as morally as I can possibly be leading it at this time.
A. No, I have not, but let me tell you for the record, that I was raped while I was married to my husband. This happened -- it happened at the time that I was -- well, I met one man in particular, but I got raped by three men at the same time and that's what made me decide that I did not want to cheat on my husband anymore.
Q. Did you ever meet with any women that you sought to find via a Craig's List posting?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. And was the purpose of that meeting to engage in a sexual liaison?
A. In my mind, no, it wasn't. I was curious. Did one ultimately lead to it, yes. I, however, did not do anything immoral. I did not do anything illegal. I did not ever do anything in front of my children. And I've since repented for my sin and I am leading my life as morally as I can possibly be leading it at this time.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
An Outtake - Mark Doty
From Still Life With Oysters and Lemon
"...Why resist intimacy, why seem to flee it? A powerful countercurrent pulls against our drive toward connection; we also desire individuation, separateness, freedom. On one side of the balance is the need for a home, for the deep solid roots of place and belonging; on the other side is the desire for travel and motion, for the single separate spark of the self freely moving forward, out into time, into the great absorbing stream of the world."
"...Why resist intimacy, why seem to flee it? A powerful countercurrent pulls against our drive toward connection; we also desire individuation, separateness, freedom. On one side of the balance is the need for a home, for the deep solid roots of place and belonging; on the other side is the desire for travel and motion, for the single separate spark of the self freely moving forward, out into time, into the great absorbing stream of the world."
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