Long Nights

Seems like old times. Basketball, a game, is being finished and facing the typical last minute debugging traumas. Of course I am not there, at the office, and I don't even know how to write programs, let alone how to fine tune software, but I imagine it's something like preparing for finals or cranking out a really important school term paper; one that the entire grade depends on, for all the class. In the twenty one years I have known Geoff this has been an unprecedented 9 months; he has not had nearly as many 100 hour work weeks and all night programming sessions. Of course the reasons for the slow down are frustrating, but we have made the most of his easier schedule, and I think I had almost forgotten how rough it can be. This week has been a terrific reminder of why when Geoff is working in his usual mode it really helps to have a laid back lifestyle. Get rid of the commute, get rid of huge house projects, get rid of demands that steal any more of his time or peace of mind, so that when he is home he can enjoy family, friends and life.

Our cat Chango stayed out all Saturday night and we did not see him all day Sunday. When we hear the coyotes calling and whining we always want to know precisely where our pets are. So, needless to say we were feeling anxious. William especially aches when we can't call the cats in. We made several searches for him, and kept porch lights on hoping to attract our sleek gopher hunter.

In the meantime, we needed trivial distractions from our anxieties, so I lit our first Autumn fire, and popped popcorn. We brought mattresses, pillows and quilts to the living room and watched one of our favorite October traditions: Meet Me In St. Louis. The last time we saw this movie was almost a year ago, when we suddenly found ourselves snowed in and remotely stranded in Custer State Park, South Dakota. Margaret OBrien makes this movie (based on true stories) a gem. And we feel a special connection to the musical numbers; some of which were written by an old neighbor of ours, Mr. Martin. And best of all are the Halloween scenes. Vincente Minnelli's film served as a nostalgic escape from the tragedies of WWII. We watched the movie with a keen awareness that the events depicted in the film were from 100 years ago, and for us it served as a welcome break from our anxieties. Geoff worked all night, but Chango came home before the Trolley scene.


Here is our Chango.