contemplativeBut then the rain started. I was taking pictures of the big muddy ruts and not really getting the perspective I wanted, and it started steady, like it's going to keep raining for a while. This kind of rain is unusual here, at least in my short time. It's the kind of rain that makes you start a soup. I turned for home immediately. I didn't have a rain jacket, and I had electronics I didn't want to get wet. Not the camera: it's waterproof and shockproof. And so is the cell phone I just ordered. I plan to be out in the rain more in the near future.
A few minutes after I got home the kitten came in the window, meowing her head off. I grabbed a dishtowel and dried her, then brushed her, getting the last burr out of her tail. Now she's sleeping on top of a pile of seven folded blankets. What a princess.
Last night Shannon and her brother David were playing with my cat when I got back from my walk. Shannon is the one who got me this cat. She saw Shakti in the Winslow animal shelter and fell in love. She wanted to save the kitten, so when I mentioned that I might get a cat since I live in a Barn, she said "I have a cat for you!" and got the cat adopted by someone else, then kept her in Flagstaff until I picked her up. Shannon has become a friend, even though my first knowledge of her came from someone else.
Shannon and David stayed for dinner. Together we made an awesome veggie marinara, a nice vinaigrette for the greens and boiled some fancy raviolis. They had spent the day climbing and were hungry. The other day I had sushi with the two of them and was impressed with David's ability to eat. I can eat large quantities too, though I am getting mindful of portions. Anyway we had a fun conversation. David is a mathematician, and I have known a few of those in my life, so I know what it means. It's similar to, but not the same as "engineer's disease". Mathematics is the Perfect Truth. It is simple and beautiful.
It seems like a long time has passed since I really got to journal. LJ has been down some lately. I guess I need to keep another writing outlet going. I had stopped all the other journals except the paper one, which I don't use much anymore. Typing is so much faster than writing by hand, for me at least, that I can get the thoughts out clearer. And stay in the flow more. Writing by hand, my hand gets tired, and makes me stop and think more.
I asked my boss for a letter of reference and he agreed. He asked me to write one so he knows what I think is important. I looked at a few online and pulled in the parts that I liked, trying to be honest and sing my own praises. I gave him the page and he said he's going to add a few things. I really like my boss, so I'm not afraid. He's another person that I saw first through someone else's eyes. The woman who hired me hated him. I think on some level she loved him too, but the hate was the part I saw. She told me all the terrible things he had done. He turned out to be so opposite from the image of him that she saw, that I can't even remember the things she told me. They don't even matter. What matters is that I know him and his heart is true and strong.
I mentioned a "what if" that has been on my mind. What if I had not been saddled with a job I didn't ask for, or been relieved of the responsibility sooner? I had expressed my desire NOT to be the "drive manager" but there was no one else to do it. And what if his business had offered health insurance sooner, like for example what if it had been there to cover my D&C? I wouldn't have been paying on that for years. It's easy to imagine where my path might have gone differently. Had I not been dissatisfied with my job, I wouldn't have started on the path toward graduate school. But my situation was untenable. I had to do something.