February??

It was warm enough today to let the chickens out for awhile while I redecorated their house. I had been thinking about how to rearrange things so that Hannah could fly down off the top of the little house without ramming into the wall. She is so much bigger than Demeter and Annie that she has trouble moving her bulk vertically in such a small space. Last week I leaned a piece of wooden lattice against the house as a ramp for her, but I could see she hasn't been using it. I tried to force her onto it today, and her feet slipped. It was too steep.

After I moved the table that the house sits on around several times without finding a solution, it finally occurred to me that I could put the little house on the floor. Then Hannah could simply jump off the roof. Once I had it positioned, I turned the table on its side so that two of its legs stuck out for perfect roosts. I put the lattice back against the now lower roof to provide another place to walk that is a different height. I'm hoping that the new jungle gym will keep the girls occupied and happy.

Otherwise I've spent the day picking up the studio again. It gets cluttered so fast since whenever I don't know what to do with something I stick it out there "temporarily." I unpacked the remaining tools that I got for Christmas, the ones I haven't had occasion to use yet. Someone should invent a tool for opening the packages. It is so difficult to break or tear the plastic and cardboard packing that holds the contents sealed like an Egyptian tomb that the experience brings on a fit of hysteria. I broke one pair of scissors trying to cut the plastic ties that held the long nose pliers to the card. Anyway, the tools are all in place now, sorted as to their use and ready for action. I had already ruined the neat arrangement of drill bits and screwdriver heads long ago, but I put them back into some sort of order. I even sorted out the nails and screws according to rough size. These things make me feel neat and in conrol of my environment for a short time. To culminate the experience, I will go to bed on clean sheets tonight, in a clean nightdress, having done laundry as well.

I had planned to go to the International Dinner at the Art Center tonight and promised to bring Pelmeni as my contribution to the feast. As I thought about it, though, I could picture it so clearly that there was really no need to actually experience it. I saw myself smiling and talking as I walked along the buffet table, exclaiming over the food. The decorations would be lovely. I saw my plate loaded with several different specialties, none of which I would be able to enjoy because of so many different tastes at the same time. I saw my plastic knife and fork, my paper napkin. I saw thousands of calories disappearing down my throat, while I listened to the jovial chatter around me. I would have contributed to the chatter, too, when I could, agreeing that Bush's State of the Union address the other night was absurd, that LNG must be stopped, that this doesn't feel at all like February, that fuel prices are ridiculously high. It would have been a fine time, and when it was over I would come home and watched Court TV. I decided to go right for the TV.