Re-entry Days, Early April Edition
Mundane, but never boring...
Periodically, I cobble together a “day-in-the-life” column, sometimes covering several days. This is one of them. Not because this time span is so compelling, more because it’s typical… somewhat mundane, varied only to the extent I make it so, as I generally seek to do. (After all, who wants a boring life?)
This particular column chronicles Thursday and Friday, April 3 and 4. Several days before, Paula and I returned from an extended trip to Africa in support of the terrific nonprofit program Paula launched in Nairobi, Kenya 19 years ago.
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By Thursday, my sleep schedule is back to normal. While downing my first cup of java at the “Urban Cabin” in the Twin Cities, I post a 2022 photo of Mallory McMorrow and me on Facebook. She’s now a candidate for the open U.S. Senate seat in Michigan… and would make an outstanding Senator. My daily calendar includes two items – meeting with Carole, executive director of “Friends of Ngong Road” (FoNR), the organization noted above, then making the two-hour drive to “Tranquillity,” our Iowa home. (Paula has several meetings in the Minneapolis, with plans to join me late Friday afternoon.)
The meeting with Carole is about an art sale in early May. Occasionally, I agree we have an excess amount of “wall art” and decide to part with a portion of it in support of FoNR. This is my fourth such sale and I hope to make 250 artworks available, a number significantly larger than Carole envisioned. Fair to say, we’re both energized by the challenge.
Meeting concluded, I toss my roller bag in the car and head south on I-35. Jim from Charles City calls to get caught up. Later, I tune into the Twins – Astros home opener on the radio. Many years ago, I learned I cannot alter game outcomes, yet I still try.
Before pulling in our driveway, I swing by the post office to pick up three-week’s worth of mail. Shortly after arriving at “Tranquillity,” I walk to the garden, checking our rhubarb’s progress… tips pointing up maybe a half inch. My garden stroll passes by several “parker” trees, named after my late friend John Parker, Dean of Students at the Institute for Paper Chemistry, who told me two decades ago to leave several dead trees standing for the pileated woodpeckers. He was right.
Scraggly forsythia along the last ten yards of the driveway seems slow to bud. Might still be glowing yellow by Easter. The nameless stream adjacent to our backyard is up a bit from recent rainfall.
I check texts and emails. I receive hymn titles for Sunday worship, when I’ll be at the keyboard. Two of these hymns are relatively unfamiliar, both to me and to the congregation. (We ultimately switch one out for something better known.) A kindly text from Austin, in Fort Worth. Hard-core Astros fan, says he wishes he and I could attend this series. Me too. Warm thoughts routed to Fort Worth.
Email from a new friend, Innocent, artist / gallery owner in Rwanda. “It was highly a great pleasure to have you and your wife visit Inema Arts Center last week! Sincerely, I was very excited to meet you and (to) hear your journey of art making (and) collecting… all inspiring. I am interested in continuing conversations with you as I am looking forward to seeing you stateside, Minnesota or Iowa. Thank you so much for your light. Please stay in touch!” (Note: Innocent is both light AND remarkably talented.)
Friday’s schedule includes delivery of much-needed fresh gravel on our driveway. An affable man in a massive truck pulls up to the house around noon. He’s been here before, 2017? We chat for a few minutes, then notice an impressive bald eagle soaring about, a magnificent snow-white head. I’ve since seen this bird four consecutive days. Nesting nearby?
An early afternoon scheduled phone call with friend Lorenzo in California. Optimism about him and his female companion visiting us in August. Great! Paula arrives about 5:00PM. Hooray!
Spring feels somewhat hesitant this year, however, daylight now hangs around long enough to play catch until 7:30PM, an informal light measurement system Meyer brothers created six decades ago. Life is good.
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I’m pleased to be part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. My talented colleagues: