Good play, good dentist

We drove to West Springfield last Saturday to see the play ALABAMA STORY that Melenie had a leading role in. We hadn’t expected to really enjoy the play – something that doesn’t happen often for either of, --so we were surprised to like it as much as we did. It was timely [concerning racism and freedom of expression and book banning] well written and well acted.Afterward we went to supper at an Italian restaurant with Melenie. It was good to see her after an unusually long time because of rehearsals for the play and then a month long run of the play, 7 performances a week. The audience filled the seats. Mostly older people [like us]. it was 40 degrees when we left the restaurant, 53 when we got home less than three hours later. We stopped three times on the way there, zero stops on the way home. The cats insisted Janet had not fed them although there were dirty dishes to prove they were lying.There’s no snow on the ground here, no ice. it’s heaven to see the ground again. I’m hoping Woody can dig some parsnips this week as they’ve been frozen into the ground. I don’t see anything coming up yet, no crocuses. I think the male goldfinches are just dreaming about getting into their mating plumage. The woodpeckers – downy, hairy and red bellied – are busy grooming the trees. The raccoons are active at night, but I haven’t seen foxes for a while. The turkeys visit every day. Last night the coywolves were very close to the house.Working on poems. I recorded a half hour poetry reading at WOMR Tuesday for international Women’s Day coming on March 8th.   I read some poems from MADE IN DETROIT, a couple from THE HUNGER MOON and a bunch of new ones. It’s always interesting and sometimes fraught to read new poems that I haven’t ever performed. I hear what’s wrong with them.The Olympics are a mixed bag. They’re timely insofar as football is over and we like to have one sport to watch [my part] and at least two [Woody]. I like the races except for the luge. Everyone looks exactly the same was everybody else. You see them coming feet first and gone so fast you have no time to get a grasp on what you’re seeing. Schwartzie liked the downhill events, almost as much as he likes football. He tried to bat at the skiers, standing on his hind legs in front of the TV, blocking our vision, of course. Expert hampering.Thursday I had a long dental appointment; Friday, so did Xena.I’ve been spending a great eal of time an money at Olga’s, making up for what was apparently years of neglect from my previous dentist. We got Chinese. After an hour and 45 minutes in the dentist’s chair, I wasn’t fit for much – neither writing nor fixing supper. I’m reading SING, UNBUIED, SING by       . It’s a fine and absorbing novel, just a good read when you feel shitty – not that it’s fantasy or escape reading. It’s gritty and makes you feel. I believe in those characters.