Ghosts

I have stayed out of my painting studio for months perhaps years. I've done my writing on the couch in the attic for a few years instead. I don't know why but I suspect I needed to avoid the studio ghosts. I get like that. I also finally had to avoid the morning pool ghosts and swim at 3 in the afternoon instead. But now I am back in the studio and the heat is on and Bolero is on the radio as the radiators crank. Oh, and I am swimming with the 6 AM crew again.

We are turtles. We roll out of bed and plop into the water. Today I was a speed demon probably due to the stress of yesterday's car troubles and our neighbor Amanda spilling gallons of motor oil from her Honda van into the snowy parking lot. When I told the landlord about the hazard Amanda got mad. "Nobody likes you," she said. My husband laughed, how junior high.

When I got home from swimming today I made Irish oatmeal. I added sliced dried mangoes and it was delicious and tropical.

We've come up to 60 degrees in 30 minutes. It was 50 in my studio at 9 AM. I have to wack the boiler's 2nd floor apartment zone box with a toilet plunger to get the 2nd floor heat to come on. So funny!

Usually I suffer in the cold rather than turn on the heat. I wear long-johns under my clothes and a hat and a fleece vest. But it's hard to hold a pen or type or hold paintbrushes when your hands are frozen.

This is my favorite time of year or should I say my favorite mood. I'm feeling excited about life and baking writing cooking and loving the sunshine and cold air outside. The light is coming back and I feel it.

Yesterday I shoveled 4 times. Last night the slush froze and now it's slippery and dangerous with patches of black ice. It looks like gray lava. 

Sometimes I think avoiding the studio has to do with the death of my parents. Nonetheless I feel it is safe to return.

My biggest joy in life these days besides swimming cooking writing is helping my neighbors. When I was in my 30's life was sheer hell. My 40's, 50's, and 60's keep getting better. I am in a position to offer perspective, guidance, and help. It feels good.