Author’s note: This is from a series based on my journal. Unconventional and idiosyncratic punctuation and formatting are intentional.
Soon after I was home from the shelter this afternoon Polly came in from more Christmas shopping following work. She also had leftovers from Waffle House. What did you get? I asked. Everything! she said, waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage. One afternoon a few months before Mom died I asked her what she’d had on her pizza for lunch that day. Everything! she said. I ate all of it except one piece, she said. She had the last piece for breakfast the next day. Mom also liked a pizza called the Bambino from a place called Pieology. The baby? I said. The baby! Mom said. It was a smaller pie. Mom was able to eat it all at once. Mom may have lost her mind. She never lost her appetite.
After putting her leftovers in the refrigerator Polly set about wrapping her gifts on the floor by the couch. I read a great story in this month’s issue of The Sun called Don’t Be Alarmed about a 60-year-old woman navigating the lingering effects of seismic shifts in her life with grace and self-effacing wit. I also read several stories in the Readers Write section. I should read those more often. Every month is a different topic. February’s is the courtroom. Maybe I could write about watching Judge Judy with Mom but that may not be the kind of courtroom the editors have in mind.
At Dairy Queen this evening the G. M. Amber was working. She said that she came in because customers have been complaining about bad food and poor service at night. Everything has been okay for me, I said. Glad to hear it, Amber said. After making my order she mentioned that her oldest daughter is now driving and her grandmother’s health is failing. We’re praying, Amber said. On the ground by the pawn shop a blue sleeping bag lay on top of a white blanket, the sleeping bag pulled back as if someone had just been there. The stones are still covered with snow.
On my way home I went by the bookstore for a new candle. The other day I bought one called Long Story Short. Its scents include bourbon, mandarin, and vanilla. It smelled much better in the store. Soon after I lit it at home I felt as if I were immersed in a bucket of orange cream soda. This evening I bought one called Balsam Fir. It comes in a dark-green triangular tin with gold doodles on the side. It is much less fruity, more sober, more nature. A lot of these fragrance descriptions remind me of those for coffee and wine and spirits such as bourbon and whisky. Half the time I feel as if people must just make them up to make their product enticing. It does not seem possible to me that sensing can be so nuanced but maybe for some people it is.
I felt lucky to get a parking spot anywhere near the bookstore. Tonight was an annual seasonal neighborhood shopping event. There were people walking and driving everywhere, the sidewalks clogged and the traffic crawling. I passed the Toonerville Trolley and then a few cars after that a Pedal Pub powered by three or four revelers pedaling on each side. A keg sat on the bumper in front. I assume someone among them must have been steering and not drinking. An igloo bounce house jiggled in the parking lot next to the bookstore. Irish ceili dancers jigged across the street.
At the bookstore customers tumbled from the door when I reached it, their breath as puffy as their jackets. Inside was swarming. I went right for the candles to get one and get home quickly. The festivity was all too busy and close for me. At home Polly was still wrapping. When she finished she had the rest of her Waffle House Everything. Mom probably would have liked that too, topped by some Reddi-wip and followed by a smoke and a Coke and a toke from her oxygen machine.
To read my previous post, “Swirl: 41,” please click here.
You may also support my work at Buy Me a Coffee.
I agree with you about candles. It is rare they smell as labeled. For me, anyway. We do not have Waffle Houses up here, but I bet I'd like them. Good to hear the bookstore was crowded, especially at the holidays.
I remember bayberry candles and how good they smelled. I don't think you see so many of them around anymore.