Rainy Morning: something I’ve longed for during a week of sunny days. Needed to buckle down and sift through oceans of paper that I’ve let accumulate all over my brand spanking new office.
Birdwalk: A term picked I up from Mary Ann Lucas-Houk, former Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum for the Duluth Schools denoting a discursive discussion off topic, i.e. a detour from prioritized work.
Out of bed by 3 AM after much needed four hours of sleep. Ate an apple, made pot of coffee, fought off hungry cats, took a card table to attic office for another flat surface to organized massive amounts of paper. Sat down and made up a list of 20 things on my mind with view to post to show my state of distraction. Cranked up Computer at 4 AM and saw Google’s “doodle” on 130th anniversary of Lady Liberty’s arrival to New York in 1885. Tried to remember if Grover Cleveland was president when my Grandfather George Robb was born. He was. Jotted down the election years just before turn of the century to recall who got elected when. Thought back to the great book, The President’s War, about all the ex-Presidents living when Abe Lincoln got elected. (The last two digits of every year that begins a new Presidential term of office always jumps four years at a stretch each century and remain the same making it easier to recall who was elected when. For example 1792 Washington, 1892 Cleveland, 1992, Clinton). Wondered if I could still recall their order of succession. Couldn’t quite do it. Should have remembered that Taylor was hero of Mexican American War and was elected in 1848. After this review I can once again do what my Grandfather did to my amazement fifty years ago – recite all the Presidents in order……. until I forget Taylor and Filmore again.
Good. First post of the day in. Now off to clip a month’s worth of newspapers to see what I’ve failed to blog about recently. After which I will see how hard I can press my nose to the office organizing grindstone today.
