TheBanyanTree: Almost Spring

[Margaret R. Kramer]

Garrison Keillor, host of public radio’s Prairie Home Companion
(http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/), said there were the following seasons
in Minnesota:  Winter, Almost Spring, Spring (which lasts for a week and a
half), Summer, and Waiting for Winter.

Right now, we’re in Almost Spring.  We’re on the verge of Spring.  The
temperatures are finally warm enough during the day that I don’t have to
wear a jacket.  I’m hoping by next weekend, I’ll feel that Almost Spring
will have turned into our short Spring, and I’ll feel safe enough to put
away the boots, wash the scarves and mittens, and take the flannel sheets
off of our bed.

I bought tickets a couple of months ago for last night’s show, but Ray being
a bit busy in the hospital recovering from his colitis, wasn’t able to go.
So, I asked my son and he went with me.  My son is a music producer mostly
involved with hip hop, rap, and other types of urban music.  The music on
PHC is not his kind of deal, but at least he appreciated the musicianship of
the artists and he enjoyed the skits and little bits sprinkled throughout
the show.

We were going to eat at Mickey’s (the old street car diner in St. Paul), but
they were busy and disorganized, (because they have former drug addicts
working there and no one really takes charge and they don’t care anyway,
because Mickey’s is an institution and will never go out of business).

So we left and went to DiGidios, which is an old Italian restaurant.  It was
Asher’s favorite place to go as an alcoholic (now he’s in recovery, so we go
for the food).  It was great to spend time with him without the girlfriend
and the boys and Ray and all the distractions they bring.  It was
interesting to share our common past with our different perspectives and our
common future.  We don’t spend a lot of time together like that.  It was
good for the soul.

Ray is doing much better.  He ate a cup of ice cream and had two bags of
potato chips without getting sick yesterday.  It looks like he’s getting
over this bowel problem just in time to take on a new physical challenge.
Well, we’ll get through that one step at a time.

I don’t have nightmares about Ray, but I do have nightmares about work.  Our
project manager is our biggest obstacle in order to complete our
documentation.  We’re supposed to have it done by the close of business on
Monday, but it won’t be, because she keeps picking at it like a vulture with
some road kill.

I think she knows she led us down the wrong path, but she’s too stubborn, or
maybe too insecure to admit it, so we just keep riding along.  She’s kind of
a bully, so no one wants to challenge her.  It reminds of the time my
ex-husband was going the wrong way home.  He knew he was going the opposite
way of where he should be going, but he wouldn’t change course, because he
didn’t want to admit he was wrong.  We spent a wasted hour on the road,
before he finally turned around and went the right way.

That’s what Gayle is doing.  We’re wasting time, her time and ours, on
something that didn’t need to be modified this much.  If this wasn’t going
on at the same time as Ray’s illness, it probably wouldn’t bother me, and I
certainly wouldn’t have nightmares about it.  I’m taking the
passive/aggressive approach – it’s your train wreck, baby.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net
margaret.kramer at polarispublications.com

Easter spells out beauty, the rare beauty of new life.
~S.D. Gordon