BAD PANCAKES

Another hazy dream last night. Something about being in an escape room, but the details are like the facts in a White House briefing these days, fuzzy and wrong. What does this mean? Have I entered some new phase of the Great Shut In? Did whatever I was supposed to learn in all those crystal clear dreams remembered with complete clarity get learned, and now it's off to some new land where I delve into a different aspect of my soul? Am I on another path?

On one level, that would make sense. I do feel different, like I have gained some infinitesimally tiny grain of wisdom. Something about living in the moment, accepting the universe, and so on. But it also doesn't make sense, as I have always had distinct dreams, and have always remembered them. But then again, not all of them. Some remain, some head for parts unknown the moment the alarm goes off. Maybe one of the tendrils of the Great Flux Monster has poked into my skull, creating an escape route for the dreams, and now they're running about, whopping it up, freaking other people out, and spreading a mix of chaos and order.

It could also be as simple as the fact the last night Padfoot needed to go out to pee twice, once around
1 am and again around 3 am. I hate having my sleep disturbed. And he is so annoying when he has to go. He walks around our bed, pants, shakes his head so that his dog collar acts like a miniature cow bell, and then, if those moves fail to rouse me, barks. On top of that, I made pancakes yesterday with some leftover batter that might have started to turn. Lisa had made the batter over a week ago, and it was sitting in the back of the fridge. I didn't stop and taste the batter, or even smell it. There was nothing green growing in it, so I figure it was fine. So, pancakes for lunch. Yay. Lisa took one bite and said she thought they had turned. Defiant and refusing to concede a mistake, I ate both my pancakes and Lisa's. And then felt like terrible for a couple of hours.

Things Change. Not only the title of a great movie written by David Mamet, starring Don Ameche and Joe Mantegna, but a fact of life. And we almost always resist change. You would think we would learn. And we don't resist by trying to take into account the change that has happened, dealing with it and moving forward with that change as part of our world. We try to pretend it never happened. To erase it from the cosmic ledger. And that's usually where the trouble starts.

The pancake batter is bad. Pretend it's still good and chow down. You can insert whatever metaphor you like here about our current global pandemic, our current President, family values, music. Whatever you like. Change, like the virus, is an equal opportunity event, and accepts all takers. Hell, it accepts all non-takers too.

One change that happened yesterday that I am not fond of is we finished The Great British Baking Show. I always hate coming to the end of a first watch of a good series, the final chapter of a good book, the last good bye of a great party. But what can you do? Act like Xerxes, and lash the sea? Xerxes was the Persian King who invaded Greece, who most of us know from the cartoonish movie 300. According the historians, after a storm washed away some pontoon bridges his army was using to cross some straits, he had his soldiers lash the sea 300 times. Can you imagine that? A world leader having a temper tantrum and trying to spank the ocean?

Xerxes, by the way, was a descendant of Cyrus, the king a lot of people on the religious right compare to Trump- not of their faith, but good for their agenda.

Well, it's time to rise up, read, Zoom, write, walk, experience, cook, eat, love, laugh, play some D&D, sleep, and dream.

Here's a song. It's Can't Happen Here by Rainbow, which seems appropriate. Oh, and before I forget to mention it. If Trump ever does adjourn Congress so he can do whatever he likes, I plan on going out and throwing rocks through windows and I don't know what else. Hope you all feel the same.