Ballet Basix

Worship Me, lowly two-legger!

Tonight I'm playing hooky from ballet class ... my left leg is unhappy since I ignored the ache & walked up and down the stairs a few more times than usual. It's an awkware hop-step, but I can get up and down without waiting an eternity for the elevator. I hope it doesn't make the strain worse -- but, after almost 2 months (or is it 3?), I have to take a calculated chance.
Bast -- pictured above -- has welcomed most of a feral litter of kittens that nested near our house. Their mother moved them just before the deluge struck last week; I had thought they had perished in the storms, trapped by the water; however, Joy noticed that none had a mark on them -- which we thought might mean that Skippyjon, the Siamese tom, had hurt them. Then, we heard crying one night near the porch ... it was the little red. We placed him/her in the carrier, but it died during the night. I suspect it's the "failure to thrive" syndrome, because they looked fat and healthy when their mother moved them ... Shoot, Margot's kittens seemed all right, but 3 of 4 perished. Zasu Pfittz, the grey-striped girl, is the sole survivor of the litter born on the coldest days of this school year. She plays by herself or with the older cats -- and we're trying to convince her that she should play with humans and not just fluffballs.



We observed Cinco de Mayo today at SHS -- and I played hooky from the community celebration after school ... I came home and ate supper before heading for the computer ... I'm sure that Mrs. Garcia brought together many elements from our local community, but I didn't have the money for food or drink -- and I had errands to run. Speaking of which, I need to call my mom once more ... it's a daughterly duty thing, y'know? I skipped out of some of the assembly today ... they tagged me to do backpack searches in the morning, so I felt that I deserved a little time to myself. I hadn't done backpack duty or metal detector screening in 4 years -- with the budget cuts, I suppose all of us will learn the knack once more. Rumor has it that we may lose all of our hall monitors ... Hall duty, ah, I remember it well. I still haven't forgotten the time that I sat metal detector duty; a mom of a student set off the alarm. I asked to look in her purse -- and she calmly pulled out a folding knife and handed it to me. Holy crap! How do you play off that one?

Mother's Day is this Sunday, so I'm co-ordinating the family cook-out thing at Mom's house. Right now, we're not quite sure who might or might not be there -- my brother's mother-in-law has an aggressive cancer, so they'll head over there first. No surprise -- intimations of mortality have cropped up all over the place, like weeds after the first spring rains, during 2011. Occasionally my mom's given us a scare or two, but this seems to be a good week for her -- though I'd prefer it if she'd answer the phone. I get paranoid when she doesn't answer, and I don't know her schedule since (generally) she stays at home most evenings ... Who knows? She may surprise us all and adopt a dog for a mother's day gift. Still ... no answer ... now I'm wishing that I had driven north to check on her and stay for dinner.

For a complete change of subject -- this week I launch "Four Winds Blow -- on line." Joy will set up the Yahoo group, and I will direct folks from Facebook to the newsgroup. I hope they enjoy this bimonthly edition, though I suspect that the news may be sparse unless people send me items. I know where a few of our compatriots will perform and/ or compete -- and I took copious notes on the last days of Faire. This weekend is Pirate Weekend at Hillsboro ... I need to get cracking, if I'm going to get everything in place.

But first, I have to check on Mom ...