I heard the car door slam went to the front door. The old wooden door creaked as I opened it.
I stood behind the screen door at least six feet away from Kitty and Charlie who were picking up some books we left for them. I’m glad to say this still feels weird to me not to be able to sit down and talk with my friends.
I had a separate bag with the last two books I read and really enjoyed The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai ( A timely novel about the Aids epidemic) and Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepra Ananppara (I especially loved this book, it brought me into slums of India in a way even being in India and seeing the slums didn’t do) in a separate bag for them.
Kitty and Charlie came to Cambridge to get coffee from the Co-op then stopped by to pick through the books in our Little Free Library and drop off a gift card to Price Chopper for the families of the kids who go to Bishop Maginn Highschool.
I’m used to seeing Kitty (or Kat as she’s known there) at the Tribal Workout in our Bellydancing Class on Thursdays. We’ve talked on the phone but of course, it’s not the same as seeing each other in person. And definitely not the same as dancing with someone.
Kitty, like me, was having a hard time focusing.
Yesterday was tough for me. I’m sure it partly had to do with Griselle dying, but also the general disruption to life right now. To get myself back to a better place, I made today into an exercise in being in the moment. (I talked about this on the podcast today).
I tried to pay attention to whatever I was doing when I was doing it without thinking of anything else. So when my mind wandered, and I caught myself, I kept bringing it back to what I was doing. Like when I meditate and keep bringing my mind back to my breathing.
This was really helpful and for the first time in a couple of weeks, I was able to work in my studio without a lot of interruptions of my own doing.
Kitty had some success at concentrating too.
The Price Chopper gift card she gave to Jon was in a card she just made. We had been talking about not being able to focus, but when she heard about the rainbow as a way of connecting people she was inspired to make a drawing with a rainbow in it.
I love how Kitty used the image of the earth (looking so small) and her words (which are all connected to each other).
“Look forward to seeing you on the other side of this…” Kitty wrote in her card.
I can hardly wait.
