10:24 PM - 04.12.04
Shakin All Over
I did write an entry last night, dear diary, but the computer ate it. Darned Mercury retrograde.
Ms Kitty rousted me out of bed at about 7:30 in the am today. She was running between the balcony doors and my bedroom door yowling and crying as though there was someone in distress. I've learned from past experience that there is always a good reason when she does that, although sometimes it is a day or two later when I know for certain why. In the short run I decided I'd better check on my young men and all the felines. My sons were both sleeping blissfully - at least until I woke them up to make certain they were ok. Mother's responsibility don't you know. Checked on and counted all the cats thinking that maybe one slipped out the front door when number four son arrived earlier at about 2 in the am. Turn about's fair play. Anyway I woke him up, but he woke me up too you see. Checked for footprints outside the house thinking maybe said cat or son might have been trying to re-enter. The snow was freshly fallen and about an inch deep, so any disturbance would have been evident and given me a good idea of who or what. Nothing there either. Guess I'll have to wait and see on this one.
Quite a contrast when I went outside this morning - really chilly with the temperature obviously well below 0 C/ 32 F. Yesterday it was 12 C/ 55 F and quite pretty with the chinook arch hanging over the city most of the day. That contrast of clear, translucent blue up against the arch of feathery grey clouds. One could even see rain at the confluence of the two. It wasn't possible to go out though, with wind warnings in effect. Just outside the city one SUV blown off the road and rolled several times by said turbulence, while a little further south the same fate overtook a travel trailer - fatalities in both I'm afraid. Walking would have been fairly tricky and unlike Mary Poppins I don't have my licence to fly. Still it was -34 C today in the Northwest Territories so I guess it's all relative anyway.
Strange dream yesterday. There was a group of five - 4 males and me - hiking up a steep mountain pass. It was winter in the mountains and the snow was deep. We were wearing old fashioned snow gear - the kind made from animal hides and furs. Much heavier than the synthetics used nowdays by far. We were seekig someone and knew they lived somewhere along the route we travelled. Came to a cul de sac just off the path just before the summit. A deerskin tipi stood toward the back on the highest ground. We could hear the sound of a mountain stream bubbling along somewhere behind and below that. Our breath was visible as we stood looking around cautiously for our "target". Strange word to use, but it seemed we had been sent to bring the person back for questioning. A man emerged from the tipi and greeted us as though he had been anxiously awaiting our visit. He had long, dark, wavy hair and a beard and mustache cut closely to the shape of his face. High sculpted cheekbones and a square jaw, giving power to his presence. On his head he wore what would now be considered a woman's bonnet - the inner lining of cornflower blue cotton and the outer layer an indescribable colour and fabric, translucent and shimmering in the dying light of the day. I would be inclined, in waking, to call it a visible manifestation of the crown chakra I think, interpreting the blue lining, then, as the manifestation of the third eye. He wore a full length voluminous cloak of crimson red velvet. Somewhat like a pope's I think. It was fastened as far as the base of the sternum, revealing below and underneath it what appeared to be a pink bib that reached to just above his groin. Below that he was buck naked. The dreaming me was acutely embarrassed, looking away with a bit of a soft scream escaping involuntarily. The man seemed not to notice, but began to teach - he was known as a guru in the settlement below. All the travellers stood rooted to the spot enthralled - it was as though we had been enchanted. He spoke for an age and for no time at all. When he was done he knelt, but that was odd too. There was a slit at about knee height that he stepped in to bringing the fabric of the cape up to cover himself. I was grateful for that. The fabric of the cape acted like a train and a cushion - he moved as though he was on a magic flying carpet, we never actually saw him taking steps. When he was done with his blessing the others left, while I stayed behind. I was startled with my dreaming self's choice and woke up.
I received a phone call yesterday from a new-to-me agency. Would I be willing to interview for a permanent, full time position in one of the large companies in the industry in which I usually work. She had pulled my resume off the job site where it is posted and sounded as though it was of some urgency. I'll go see her next week. Odd thing was that since she hadn't told me which company, but wanted me to list those I had worked or made application to recently, I decided to check the websites of all the large companies I could think of hoping to be able to prepare a bit for the interview. Knowing the values and goals of a company is helpful when responding to questions. Just like that one legal firm's, that responded to my call this week, take on experience and skills. What you don't know can trip you up big time. I couldn't find one with a posting for the position the recruiter had read out loud to me. In fact almost all of them had one or two positions - max - as though a hiring freeze was in effect. Curious. I did post a resume to one that collects them for future reference and went on with my day. A test maybe to see if I'm really commited to going back to school?
This afternoon the neighbour from across the alley came by with a bouquet of carnations for me. He thanked me for my quick response and co-operation in dealing with his complaints. It was a pleasant surprise to say the least. The cats loved the flowers - so much so that we spent a good portion of the day shooing them away from the vase. Mr Fluffy got the one red bud that had broken away in the bundle and gently carried it around in his mouth purring, a train of jealous and admiring siblings following wherever he went. Conclusion? We'd better try feeding them some greens, so they get their roughage. As it was George II jumped into the fridge when I wasn't watching, seeking some other treasure I guess. After I closed the door I could hear a piteous meowing set up, but didn't quite make the connection. It was when the other cats started crowding around the fridge that I realized what had happened. He was in there less than a minute, but I think his description of the "cold dark place" must have duly impressed his sibs. They haven't strayed into the kitchen since.
Talked with one of my sons today and that cleared up a mystery from a couple of weeks ago. He was telling me of a call from one of his buddies - the one whose Dad was my assistant for most of the election - the one who quit the day before the vote. The Dad had called and left a couple of voice messages saying that he was planning a surprise birthday party for his wife and would I please return his call and confirm my attendance at the restaurant where it was being held. Now, his wife and I have been friends and co-volunteers for decades and we chat fairly regularly by one means or another. She had told me in October that she was going back east to visit family and friends for a couple of weeks around that time for her birthday present to herself. Now the reason I had given him the assistant position - in addition to the fact he had done some of the tasks the election prior - was that his wife and my son's buddy had asked if I could give him as much work as possible - he rarely holds a job more than a few months at the best of times. I didn't like the idea because for years when our sons were small he hit on me on a regular basis - even when the boys were right there witnessing his behaviour. I used to avoid him at all costs. He had behaved during the last election so I though he had cleaned up his act, so I did what I could because of those requests. His behaviour at times during the event indicated that he wasn't yet over his notions but he kept his hands and words to himself - mostly - probably because I was his boss. It may have been a factor when he quit, because his comment was that I obviously didn't want him around. Yes I did - to work, only - thank you very much. Anyway, when those calls came about his wife's birthday party, I felt terribly guilty but I didn't respond or acknowledge the calls - something just didn't feel right. He was also best buddies with the one worker who was trying to over- bill for hours, so I wondered if the intent was to deal with that in some way. That same person has also tried to get other workers from the office to put pressure on me to give him additional money too, the tea visit a couple of days ago being the last. Anyway, my son told me that his wife had asked for a divorce for her birthday, so I suppose it could have to do with the other worker or it could be he was trying to blindside me in a public place to press his "suit". Either way, it obviously had nothing to do with his wife at all. I can't write what I think about that, dear diary, because I try hard to be a lady.
Watched a couple of specials tonight without really meaning to. For some reason our regular news hour ended half an hour early and a show called Jeff's Adventures came on. I had been meaning to switch over to watch a bit of a Sammy Davis special - but this opened with commentary about the Rockie Mountains Banff and the town of Seebee - you know the one that was for sale that would be my idea of a dream come true - move me, my sons, the cats and whatever family wanted to up there and just write and research I would. It's where a lot of movies such as the Disney wilderness adventures and "Little Big Man" with Dustin Hoffman and Chief Dan George, "It's a good day to die" were filmed. Anyway it turned out to be a profile of the area for travellers, so I just watched to see what was said. The narrator went caving at one point, claiming that that was the only cave in the whole area. I think he may have meant the only one open to the public though. I know from some of my friends who are aboriginal that there a number of caves back in that area, but they are all considered sacred sites - where vision quests are carried out and where the shamans go to work. Anyone not needing to know where they are is diverted from the area one way or another. One of the people I worked with in the Survivors of Torture program had tried climbing up to one he had found out about, but said it was too difficult to reach and his equipment wouldn't work properly anyway. Hmmmmmm.
The other special was the Christmas Angel - the story skated by Dorothy Hammil, among others. It was beautifully done as a sequence of dreamlike scenarios sometimes shifting to archetypal nightmare scenes and back again. Really well done. I can see why guys channel surf though. As I was flipping from the one special to the next, I also caught a bit of a performance by Charlie Pride. I went to a concert of his in Calgary a couple of decades or so ago even though he sings country. Don't like country, but I love his voice. He hardly seemed to have changed at all - still as handsome as ever. He was a guest on a Daniel O'Donnell special. The combination didn't really seem to fit, but that doesn't matter does it. One of the women I ride to work with sometimes, told me she took her mother to see a concert of Mr O'Donnell's while they were in Ireland. Said her Mom was just as excited as a school girl - just like all the other women of her generation who were there. He was treated as though he was the newest up and coming rock star of the bubble gum set. His voice still has the beauty, but I think his range is a bit less now. Then again, that was exceptional even by operatic standards, wasn't it? A
Anyway there's a line up for the computer, so I'd better go see if I can get the cats settled so they sleep in tomorrow. Enlightened self interest you know. Besides that I just started working with that cardio shimmy belly dance tape and I have yet to "shake" it today. As usual I don't have a lot of trouble with the hip movements. The combination of shimmy with hip and maia circles I can handle, but the mix of camel with shimmy may be just a bit more than this girl can manage. The travelling steps and the arm action are both going to take a bit of work, though. I had the Hindi channel on earlier today followed by the Pakistani hour so that I could practice the shoulder shimmies in a slower context. The cats tolerated the first hour really well, but started yowling midway through the second. Guess they didn't like that singer as much as I did. Oh well. Maybe I'll just put on that Pavarotti Christmas concert and do the stair climbing instead. That will make it up to them - they love his voice and so do I.
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