A Knothole View of the Week
... with AMPLE variety
A “week in the life” column, September 16 through September 22. Having generated positive responses from similar rambles, I attempt another. While not an especially noteworthy week, there is considerable variety. Additionally, it’s a knothole into my modest efforts to be a good citizen, to engage with friends, and to provide positive family support.
Monday, September 16. The morning is devoted to the aftermath of an event we hosted Sunday afternoon in support State Senate candidate Rich Lorence. Hoped for twenty-five guests…by our count, forty people attended. A phone call from Betty to discuss follow-up. She’s already secured $3,500 for the Lorence campaign, perhaps $4,000+ by now. Casual dinner with Paula’s Iowa Book Club at Martha’s and Denis’s. Eggplant parmesan!
Tuesday, September 17. Gloria’s funeral, I’m the organist… technically, the keyboardist, having recently retired the church’s vintage organ, replacing it with an electronic keyboard with organ-like settings. I’ve known Gloria, a nearby childhood neighbor, since her birth four years after mine. Cancer, detected too late to mount a successful defense. I provide “consolation music” for ninety minutes before the funeral, while friends comfort her family. “Beautiful Savior,” “Abide with Me,” “Just As I Am,” etc., relying heavily on muscle memory (finger memory?).
Wednesday, September 18. Final touches applied to last week’s column, inevitably requiring more time and thought than expected. I join fifteen area residents in Osage at an informal question-and-answer session with Rob Sand, our impressive State Auditor, carrying out his annual state tour.
Thursday, September 19. Enroute to Chicago, I meet friend Gary for lunch in Waterloo. Life updates. I give him a small painting of five fish – as in loaves & fishes – part of a newly launched effort to dispense with excess art. (I know, there’s no such thing as “too much art,” but I’ve promised Paula.)
Around 4:00PM, I arrive in Dubuque, for dinner and lodging with dear friend Jack. Jack hosts a small dinner party attended by Susie, Ed, and Mark. We soon realize Susie attended the childcare center started by Paula’s mom 65 years ago, when Paula’s dad attended Wartburg Seminary. I give Jack a Kenneth Roberts book notable for its dust jacket: Grant Wood artwork from 1940, with our late friend Park, looking rather somber, serving as his model (… wearing a powdered wig).
Friday, September 20. In Chicago, I host Paula, who’s flown into town, and longstanding friends, Jane and Rochelle, for lunch at the Cliff Dwellers, a club founded by Hamlin Garland, overlooking the Art Institute of Chicago, across Michigan Avenue. Afterward, we savor the Institute’s Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit before heading to (daughter) Meg’s and Matt’s home late afternoon. Paula and I will spend the week watching their daughters, ages seven and four, while M & M journey abroad.
Saturday, September 21. Papa’s breakfast pancakes, with stirring support from two enthusiastic assistants. Meg shows us the drop-off / pick-up route for the weekly routine, mentioning that on Monday, Marie’s pre-K program will rehearse their lockdown protocol, a police officer present. (What does THIS say about our society?) The girls play soccer in the afternoon. Louisa scores a goal in the Lucky Dragon’s 2 – 0 victory. For dinner, we walk the girls to a nearby restaurant, an attempt to smooth over their parents’ early-evening departure. Our strategy works.
Sunday, September 22. A mostly quiet, rainy day. Girls attend swim classes, impressing grandparents with newfound aquatic skills. Video conversations with our children, Meg (and Matt) in Italy; Ellie in Florida (a friends’ get-away); Ethan (and Lauren), now living in Germany. Rain means indoor activities… Paula plays Skip-Bo with the girls; I seek their “help” baking cookies. That large canister of white granular material in the cupboard is sugar, right? What happens when you add a cup of salt to raisin oatmeal cookies? I can testify, you make them completely inedible. Harrumph.
Early dinner, four books read, wee ones tucked in by 7:30PM. Monday morning, girls must rise by 6:45 and be out the door by 7:15. So, what did YOU do last week?
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I’m pleased to be part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. These are my colleagues:
My friend, Paul Juhl, an expert on Grant Wood, explained that the sour look Park had was not commanded by Wood, but Wood was contented with it because it made the charector more realistic, unfortunately the sour look came from pains Park was suffering because of appendicitis!
Fun column about what reads like a terrific week. And who knew Grant Wood did dust jackets for books?