Wednesday, July 17, 2013

With Apologies to Robert Frost

One Traveler

If I could go back
to where the roads diverged
and take the other,
the one more worn,
the one more traveled,
would my feet ache less?

I dream at night of that yellow wood
and wake, disoriented,
remembering what it was like
to see and know
but not believe.

Beside me,
my golden cat
turns her belly up,
and sleepily we start the day
knowing that way leads on to way.

--Cynthia Sillitoe, July 2013


Where I've Been

Uh, yeah...it's been a while since I checked in here.

In May, I started an Etsy store. And I love it. And then I started making Etsy treasuries, which are kind of like Pintrest boards of all the things I love on Etsy. I've gotten a little obsessed with those, but there's so much great art and Etsy is a lovely place to spend hours.

And then it's been hot and Percie has wanted to be out in the heat and I am forever bringing her in. You can lead a cat to water, but you can't make her drink. You also can't make her believe that you're doing her a favor by not letting her roast in the sun.

And then I got hooked on Candy Crush and a few games like it. The only problem is I, uh, suck at them and probably don't fully understand how I'm supposed to get from level to level. I do not have a "solve a spacial puzzle" brain. I have a "remember that conversation you had with Grandma thirty years ago" brain. And I no longer let myself buy the extra moves to help me get to a new level because they almost never do. Candy Crush for me is all about being content with playing the same level every day, all week, and maybe the next week, and then suddenly a miracle happens and I actually complete it. And I'm never sure how I did that, so I remain clueless.

Each day, I spend a little time in the studio, and sometimes I even get some art made. Usually that happens if it's cool enough to let Percie stay out. Otherwise, I bring her in and try to encourage her to sleep on her shelf above the art table. Instead, she knocks stuff off the table and I pick it up and she knocks it off again, all the while screaming "Let me outside! The Geneva Convention says I'm allowed to stay outside as long as I want even if it's 300 degrees!"

I keep buying her toys that I hope will entertain her (and get her stoned with catnip.) They don't work and I order more. I try to do that during the day because at night I'm busy making Ambien-induced trips to Walmart.com to buy two bottles of raspberry and vanilla scented hand soap and some citrus scent bathtub cleaner. (Ambien must make me crave fruit in a subconscious way.) And then I wake up the next morning and check my e-mail and think "Why did I buy hand soap and bathroom cleaner at 3 a.m., especially since the shipping is more than the cost of the purchase?"

And then Percie says...."Is it morning? Can I go outside?"