Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Young robins have decided the outside of my air conditioner is a good place to rest while learning to fly. It doesn't take them long to grow, so I've watched them mature from fuzzy, disheveled fluff-heads to slim, more graceful, innocent-looking young teen birds.

I wonder if this is what my mom thought, watching us kids grow up.

The robins rest, chirp chattily, and then continue their flight lessons.

It's warm enough that people are putting on summer clothes. I saw a woman today who, from a distance, looked like a chubby school girl, ambling towards me and my dog. She even looked like a specific girl from the neighborhood, one I'd caught stealing daffodils from a neighbor's garden not long ago. I think it was her wobbly, uncertain walk. I was wondering, "Why isn't she in school right now?"

As she neared, I realized it wasn't a chubby school girl after all, but a woman on a cell phone, wearing capris pants and sandals. It's the sort of detail that wells up significant in my mind but could slip away without recollect unless I jotted it down right then.

Rereading my college journal, I've discovered several pages of the notes I used to keep when I was behind in writing my journal. I used to fold a piece of notebook paper in half, turn it sideways like a greeting card and write the dates of each day unwritten, and highlights from what had happened.

When it was closer to the time these days unfolded, the notes were invaluable. I could look at them and from the few highlights of the day, remember a wealth of details, moods, even entire conversations. Now, of course, ten years later, I can decipher the abbreviations in the notes, but all of the context of these events is erased. However, the completist in me wants to go back and write up those days, just because I'm probably the only one who can understand these notes.

Who says Virgos are perfectionists?

Here are my notes for Wednesday, October 23, 1992, when Bush came to Penn State: "Bush to Penn State! early morning argument w/ A. take pics, hang out w/bro, get in, push to fr. (confrontation), back to liberal pack (short sp.) MPS - early for skit. goes well, the diner, chaos, r. horror."

Of these, I can remember who "A" is (Leechboy), and I remember that the photographs I took were of downtown State College decorated for the first President Bush, and pictures of protesters, including my brother, chewing broccoli and holding signs that read "Genocide George."

I also remember there was a confrontation as I tried to get near the front with my "Clinton/Gore" sign — the only sanctioned "protest signs" allowed in front of Old Main, where the speech was held. And I remember they wouldn't allow any of us liberal dems into the front section, reserved for the GOP politicos. So it was back with the "liberal pack." I didn't make a note about it, so I must have counted on remembering the guy next to me joking about the singer, whose name was "Chisolm," which sounds a little too much like "jism" for polite society. He was joking about how it was worth all the hassle, just to hear that name. And I guess Bush made a short speech ("short sp").

I have a little less luck remembering the Monty Python Society ("MPS") meeting. Apparently, I showed up early that night in order to prepare for a skit I'd written. Unfortunately, I don't mention which skit it was. Maybe there are earlier notes, for another day, that mention writing a specific skit.

And then the next bit, about "the diner, chaos, r. horror" I can only assume means that the group went to the College Diner afterwards, caused chaos (as always) and sang songs from the "Rocky Horror Picture Show." We were wont to cause chaos at the diner, which is probably one reason they've since redecorated it to look like a funeral parlor. They want to discourage frivolity.

It's hard to discourage frivolity in my dog. I can tell Una is doing better, though recovering from Lyme Disease, because she's excited about her walks again. She pulls to sniff everything, dipping her nose into the morning dew, coming up with pollen on her snout. She no longer shows any symptoms of Lyme Disease and is not even limping anymore in her right rear leg. But she has quite a few doses of medication to go yet, and given that I'm administering her pills with hunks of cheese, she doesn't mind.

I, too, am recovering from my cold, which only bothers me a little bit in the mornings.

Mornings is when I try to get my head together and waste an hour or two web surfing. I read recently that blogs rule Google and that, because of the way it selects its top results, blogs end up being near the top. I'm the top result for such wondrous things as "stretch armstrong insides" and "my dog is staring at me." These are some of the wackiest searches used by people to find my site. You can find more such searches for my site and other sites at Disturbing Search Requests.

I can't wait to see what this page will produce in way of wacky searches.

<far-off tingling music> Is that the ice cream truck? <looks out window> It is! I've just got to buy an ice cream ... The robins are right, the warm season has begun.<dashes off>

Copyright 2003 by Alyce Wilson

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