Day 215

I went to Karen’s singing bowls meditation last night. I don’t like to go out in the evening and I can’t say that I enjoyed it. Sitting is not my friend and it was a long sit. I came home and went to bed with an achy body. This morning I will finish the floors before I exercise and walk. It’s beautiful outside: warm, calm, and calling me. The garden needs water. The sprinkling did little to help the dry spell.

POH

I was four years old when I had a long sickness with chicken pox. My mom said I was sick for 12 weeks. I do remember sitting in the bathtub while she poured soda water over me to help with the itching. Someone brought me a teddy bear. It was huge, had a red bow, and I loved it. The same day that it was new, my brother pulled out one of his eyes and lost it. The bear was my companion through numerous moves from that house in Reno, to two other places in Reno, through three houses in Missoula, three houses in Salt Lake City, a hotel in San Francisco and three houses in Eureka. Lots of hugs and dragging him around left one leg worn and tattered. He slept on my bed until I was eleven when I sat him on top of my chest of drawers along with a music box and a horse figurine. One night I heard noises and in the morning I investigated where I thought the noise was coming from and I found that a nest of mice were living in my teddy bears leg. I freaked and yelled. My mom ran into my room expecting a catastrophe and found me crying at the desecration of my longtime companion. She disposed of the bear and the family of mice. I felt the loss when I looked at the chest and felt guilty that I hadn’t noticed the bear for a long time.