On Chairs and Peonies ...

Yesterday was lovely ... Besides having the tub enclosure tiled and receiving a larger cheque than anticipated for my teaching, I received two of the kindest most thoughtful letters imaginable. One came by snail mail and the other was an email. I went around in a state of bliss for hours afterwards thinking about how lucky I am.

Tamarak, Carlos, Shea, Teddy and Kaiah all arrived for dinner. They stayed the night so that they could look after Kenya while I go to Montreal today.

I will be going to the Botanical Gardens and am looking forward to the trip. it is apparently peony time. The last time I was there it was October and the experience was magical. Maybe I will write about those magic moments when I come back from this trip. I am sure that I will be reminded of them over and over again. I am taking muffins, apples, my latest unfinished pair of socks, and Miriam Toews' novel, The Flying Troutmans, with me for the bus ride. And my small journal.

I keep looking at the wonky house chair and am now thinking that the basic problem may be the chair itself. Its shape is not as interesting as the others. It is an old school chair from the days when they made their school chairs to last ... from wood. Today they are made of pressed board, plastic, and metal and are designed to fall apart almost immediately. One year I was presented with all new desks and chairs for my classroom. I looked at them and said, "But they are for young kids, not for hulking teenagers." The administrator, who had expected me to be overjoyed, said, "They are adjustable." Well ...a janitor came in and adjusted them all to their maximum height and as soon as the first class came in and sat down, half of the desks lay in pieces on the floor. They ended up glued and taped together (and very wobbly) for the rest of my career, and looked so decrepit after a few months of normal wear and tear that they invited graffiti and desecration.

Well, after that tirade that just emerged from the depths of memory, I am beginning to like those old chairs after all! Maybe they just need a different theme. Ideas welcome!