12 Oakdale

We really thought we’d stay up this year and ring in the new year. On the agenda was the Cotton Bowl at 3:30 PM in which out-of-it’s-league Cincinnati did much better than expected against Alabama. Final score: Cincinnati 6; Bama 27. Could have been much worse. Next up, the Peach Bowl at 7:30. My plan went away when Georgia got a touchdown on its opening possession and never looked back. Final score: Georgia 34; Michigan 11. I’d quite by halftime. Grant had wandered off to play his computer game. We’d eaten my onion tart with a bottle of American sparkling wine during the first game, and Grant’s black eyed pea salad with seltzer during the first quarter of the second. Desert was a shared Kris Kringle cookie (formerly known as Santa’s Winter White) from Gideon’s Bakehouse. Off to our respective corners, me to continue my binge of Episodes , a decade-old sitcom being retired by Netflix on January 4th, and Grant to manage his dragon quest. By 11:00, we were in bed.  The Town of Winder...

Annie and I started 2021 just like we’ve started most days recently: I got up a few minutes before 6:00 AM, although she’d be happy if it were an hour earlier. Some days she has tried to encourage me by just barely touching her small, damp nose to mine. Occasionally she will try licking my hair. Once recently she took a mouthful of it and gave a tug. Then I absolutely refuse to get up for at least a half an hour. Once I give in, I know she’d work the kitty alarm so that we’d be getting up at 4 o’clock. I have to hold my ground sometimes. In any case, I get up, pee and wash my hands with her meowing at my feet. I grind coffee and get the pot started. She meows. I get her bowl, put her 1/3 cup of kitty chow in it and try to put it down, without being tripped while she weaves between my legs. She eats; I sit with my coffee and read, meditate, or write; Grant sleeps for another hour. A peaceful start to the morning and this new year. Last night, the fireworks started at 5:00. Grant put the...