327 Market

What Next?



I am trying to plan for the next month. I am a bit mystefied about the whole thing. I have bills and not much income. I am trying to sublimate my panic with constructive activities, like writing.

::

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family, sandwiched between adventures with EB.

I am going to have to give the House of Pain a new name. For years I have avoided it like the plague. Between the seasonal spring that erupts during the rainy season, causing near fatal levels of mold, the filth, the ravenous dogs, the utter absence of anything "homey" or inviting and the rather unappealing figures of my grandparents, I haven't had much reason to hang out. Since the GrandP's have been carted off and most of the other demons were banished with a lot of cleaning and purging, the house has had a rebirth. The Crazies were there, but they were medicated, the dogs were confined, the food was clean and abundant and the house glowed with a lot of genuine warmth and good cheer. My mother and her sibs were contented for the first time. The KB wasn't even the Lone Child. The clan brought forth 2 babies in the last 2 years. The Pater was delighted to have the 3 mo-old fall asleep in his arms. The KB and the 2 year old bonded over Uncle's rock collection. La Tia Loca made mashed potatoes in her own kitchen downstairs (she restored the former darkroom to its previous food-prepping glory). After the feast we went on the traditional constitutional. The night was moonless, the stars were bright, the streets were unlit and the dogs were excitied to be out as the clan wended its way over the dirt roads and through the canopies of oak.

Things were almost normal.