Hibernation

I am cold. The sky has shed its color along with the trees and grass. I look out the window to see the chill shades of gray, lifeless tan and dormant black green. I am not a winter person, can you tell? Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the change of seasons here in Arkansas. My perfect winter would last two weeks and be covered in snow. I would have plenty of firewood, hot cocoa and a sled and I would not have to go to work.

It’s been quite a while since my last blog. I blame it on the cold. All I’m inclined to do is snuggle up under an afghan and read or watch movies, oh … and eat. I’ve had an enormous appetite since Christmas. I’ve gone from two meals a day to a hearty three. They are all hot and heavy and my clothes are getting tight. So, as soon as I get home from work, I get out of my restrictive work clothes and don stretchy pants, tee shirt and hoodie.

I saw “There Will be Blood” yesterday. Daniel Day Lewis’ performance is hard to describe. We couldn’t figure out his voice. We knew we’d heard it before but it wasn’t until today that we realized it was John Huston. I wonder if that was intentional. Paul Dano was brilliant. His portrayal of a slimy evangelical prophet was anything but cliché’d. The way those two actors subtly displayed their characters’ recognition of themselves in each other was captivating. It gave a real basis for the animosity between them.

We saw “Juno” last week and both loved it. It’s been quite a while since I’ve heard such well-written dialogue. I almost hated to laugh because then I would miss the next line and they were all golden. And, the adult characters weren’t lame cliché’s -- something almost unheard of in movies that feature a teenage main character. Two weeks ago we saw “No Country for Old Men.” Javier Bardem was amazing, as was Josh Brolin. Tommy Lee Jones is always good in this sort of role.

I have to start working out again. We have a big trip planned in a couple of months and will be doing a lot of walking. Geez, how pitiful is that. I have to train to walk. I’m not taking a class this term, so I should have plenty of time for the gym.

There are huge building projects going on at the university medical center where I work. But then, there always are. I wonder if there will ever come a time when TPTB will say, “I think we have enough buildings now.” The largest project is a new hospital. Get this -- they fucking forgot to put any food services in. I kid you not. And, it’s too late now to fix it. I guess they can continue using the present kitchen and cafeteria but it’s about half a mile from the new patient rooms. These dumb asses are so frantic to throw up buildings on every available piece of grass, nobody noticed that a pretty vital part of the hospital was missing. Oh yeah, and they actually have the balls to send fund raising letters to their underpaid employees. I think it’s pretty much a no brainer that you can save the postage and not ask your staff of working poor to donate their money back to you. They obviously got geniuses working in fund raising too.

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home. ~Edith Sitwell