Breezy day

I got back from Phoenix on Tuesday, and just hung out with the cats for pretty much the next 48 hours, except for going to church several times. Yesterday it rained pretty much all day, and I went out at 1:00 to have my Talk with Steve H. about the job at St. G. It wasn’t a very businesslike conversation; he just sort of free-associated through lunch about the job and the staff there. When it came down to cases, I was finally able to tell him about my summer schedule and so forth. As far as I can tell, he seems to be thinking like I’m just going to go ahead and take the job; he didn’t give me any reason to think otherwise.

He’s going to Talk to the rectors.

My aunt Millie, whom I thought I would have to help move away from Phoenix in the dead of summer, wrote me and said she’s going to spend May 15 - Sep. 15 in Portland. So I won’t really have to worry about coming back from Holden and going to help her move in July when it’s the worst down there. That's a relief. I'd like to help her but anything's better than July or August in Phoenix. Except maybe August in St. Louis.

Last night there were several alarms. The feral yellow cat is back on the roof, and it kept (seemingly) asking for help. But whenever I would go up on the roof, it would run away. Then at 4:00 a.m. I thought I heard a scream outside -- it seemed so urgent that I threw on my clothes and some shoes, got the gun, and ran out on the street. Nothing was happening, of course -- I may as well have dreamed it. Perhaps I had. Then I woke up with a start at 6:30 for some reason. And I couldn’t really go back to sleep. Finally I got up and fed the cats and did a load of wash and got dressed and went to morning prayer.

I didn’t eat until I went to get my blood drawn. The Russian immigrant phlebotomist was able to find a vein where no one else had -- on the outside of my ... what do you call it, the part of your arm that’s opposite your elbow? -- and diagonal. I’ll have to remember that for the next time. The last two times I had my blood drawn they had a devil of a time finding a vein.

So after the rain stopped around 10:00 it was an absolutely gorgeous day, though it got very windy in the late afternoon. I spent all day working on the church newsletter, so I can get another issue out before I go to Holden. Around 5:00 I went for a walk on the hill and it was really blowing hard. I hardly got back before it was time to go to Maundy Thursday church. And there was hardly anybody there but the music was beautiful and simple and the atmosphere was very meditative.

Then I got some sushi and brought some home to the cats. They sniffed at it, and then I remembered to rinse it off. They only like it when it’s rinsed, the picky beasts.