"America's Great Literary Hermit"

Catcher in the Rye - One of the funniest books I ever read. It had me giggling and busting out in laughter, I had aching ribs and tears rolling down my cheeks under the influence of Salinger's humour.

So, a moment of silence for J.D Salinger. Even though my sleep was interrupted in the wee hours of last night by my loving husband to break this untimely news, (phew! long sentence) - it is indeed sad.

RIP, Salinger.

THE WAITING ROOM

9 am Saturday morning: Walked into the clinic/hospital, spoke to the receptionist who politely directed me to the radiologist’s office.
I walk into the cold, forsaken room – there is no one in sight. I stand there for about 5 minutes before a young man leisurely walks in and requests me to take a sit.
He casually says, “The radiologist will be here at 10am”. I called the previous day and was told I could come in at any time, “the radiologist is always available”, and it’s a hospital after all. To keep me occupied I read ‘Beloved’ by Tony Morrison.

9:50 am: Two men walk in. They are curly haired and mango tanned, they speak to each other in a foreign language. The tall skinny red eyed one comes up to me and gets a hold of my necklace. “Where did you get this? The African market?” they are clearly out to have fun, but I cut them off by sinking my eyes into my novel.

10:00 am: A lady wrapped in religious attire walks in with an old man. He is in his early 70’s, his tall frail body is hidden under a striped shirt, dirty-black trousers and he has the most interesting white hat sitting firmly over his grey hair. His face is masked in pain. After an hour of waiting, it’s clear that his patience is waning. He hasn’t eaten since last night - a prerequisite to seeing the radiologist. He has two strong stress lines right between his eye brows. He grips his walking stick between his hands and relieves some of his fragile weight onto it. Then he pulls out his cell phone and looks at it intently like he expects it to come to life.

10: 50am: I’m growing extremely impatient. Man at the counter informs us the radiologist just called to say she will arrive at 11:30 grrrr! I nearly break out in a sweat, but I have to wait.
11:00am: An old woman dressed in traditional silk waddles in and sits next to me. Her body odor could send a dog whimpering in the opposite direction. I hold my breath but can only do it for long. She gets up several times to fill her water can and each time the whiff of her odor is refreshed. I turn the other side with the hope that it will keep the smell at bay, to no avail. She is fascinated by the woman on the TV screen who is smoking a cigarette, she mumbles to herself in shock and amusement.

11:45am: The radiologist struts in. I’m only too glad to be the first to walk into her office and leave the waiting area for good.

...

2010 was getting off to a calm start.
I was beginning to think it would be a quiet year when all over a sudden Haiti happened - blew me right out of my socks! One of the worst natural disasters right next to the '96 Tsunami - like a 9/11 happening all by itself. Gruesome, heart breaking images and stories continue to splatter all over my computer and TV screen. It’s hard to fathom how something like that would happen but it did. Is this the same kind of damage as when Samson leaned on the pillars that day or when the wall of Jericho came crumbling down?

In this chaos and confusion, God is still in control.

A search for inspiration

I should be constructing sentences and joining words together to make good sense but I lack the drive, the motivation, the, what’s the word? - Inspiration.
I’m about to conclude that, “this place” doesn’t set me ablaze, either that or I’m hanging with the wrong crowd, reading the wrong news papers, working the wrong job or it’s the hormones .

I have faithfully written a New Years letter in the past but this time I haven’t gone beyond just musing about it. Otherwise I think this is going to be an interesting year, hopefully with not as many dramatic and hair raising surprises and events as 2009 unceasingly sprayed.

Yesterday I walked my baby to his P1 class room in the big school. I dropped him off, waved goodbye but “I” never left. Parenting is an amazing experience! - watched my belly expand, finally got a glimpse of God’s creation, celebrated the budding his first tooth, watched him wobble as he took his first step then begun to run around. Still clinging to mummy’s leg. Later getting a grip of his colors, struggling to hold a pencil, stuttering as he tried to fathom consonants and vowels. Now he reads sentences, has an ear for “big words” like enthusiasm and is trotting off to “big school”. Yeah, he is beginning to walk away (sigh).


Regarding yours truly, I can safely say the shades of grey are turning to color again. The world is not so blue any more. I’m getting my energies back. I will soon put down the ban on scented soaps and perfumes in the house. That should be a cause for celebration since we have all been strictly using key soap for bathing and I was seriously policing what deodorant Sam dearest could adorn.
Two things I have noted 1. One begins to show much earlier with subsequent pregnancies. My tummy now is the size it was when I was 5 months with Mich.
2. The stomach wall is more sensitive to the baby’s movements. I first felt Mich at 15 weeks, this time it was almost immediate.


HAPPY NEW YEAR.