Tues. July 15, 2025: Incoming Heat Wave
Image courtesy of pixabay.comTuesday, July 15, 2025
Waning Moon
Pluto, Neptune, Saturn Retrograde
Cloudy and humid with a heat wave starting
The Community Tarot Reading for the Week is here.
Yes, Saturn, the planet of life lessons, joined the retrograde parade on Sunday. If there was a lesson you needed to learn and didn’t during last year’s retrograde (June 29 to November 15) or from previous retrogrades, you will be smacked with it again this go-round, which is until November 27 (Thanksgiving Day). Mercury goes retrograde on Friday, adding to the general suckage.
I made some good changes last retrograde, and am in the process of making some other hopefully good ones this retrograde, so maybe I’ll be cut a fraction of a break? I mean, there’s always more to learn, but I hope I don’t get smacked around too much this go-round.
Oh, and Spectrum? Who falsely claimed I hadn’t paid my bill and made me go down to them in person to pay two months’ worth? Suddenly “found” the payment and put it through. So now they’re overpaid, and I better not get a bill for next month. They are horrible. The fact that we only have a single choice of internet in this “rural” region is loathsome.
Anyway, I tried not to be too much of a Grumpy Pants on Friday, in spite of the humidity. I mean, it was sunny and pretty and the house is freshly painted, if still sticky and with door problems.
We were supposed to get a delivery on Friday of small, personal cooling units. I’d ordered them specifically from this company because it was supposed to be here within the week. Then, suddenly, the delivery is delayed until July 25. Of course it is. So we have to suffer. Because it would be impossible for actual customer service to exist.
If it’s this bad before Mercury retrograde, I don’t even want to think of what it would be like during.
I popped out and got the last tiny cooling unit from Ocean State. I’d hoped to get two, but the other one was missing some of its bits. So I bought the one tiny, inexpensive one, to get us through, and it’s wonderful. Sadly, it’s too noisy for me to run much of the night, but it does cool things down quickly.
I also did the grocery shopping and a library run. The front door still wouldn’t open from the inside, so I had to go down the back. I can open the front door with my key from the outside using my body weight, I just can’t open it from the inside. Which is a safety issue.
Got everything home, hauled it up the stairs.
And then, we couldn’t find Bea. We spent the next five hours turning the house inside out, looking for Bea. She’s never tried to run outside, and we have door protocols. But still – we could not find her. We were frantic.
None of the other cats were worried.
After five hours, we heard Willa yowl, and then Bea strolled in like, “What? I’ve been dimension hopping. I knew where I was.” And then she ate her supper.
But I lost a whole workday looking for the damn cat.
She’s in her rebellious teenage phase.
We should have paid attention to the other cats, who knew nothing was wrong.
Heard from a friend that my plays under consideration for next season made the first cut. They will read some scenes in the coming weeks to see how they play, and make a decision then. Some good news!
Heard from RATTLE that “Miss Tisdell’s Table” hadn’t been chosen as one of the top two for the month. I didn’t expect it to be chosen, not out of the hundreds of poems they get every month from experienced poets; I’d written it more for me than for anything else. How could I refuse to write an ekphrastic poem that had Lenormand cards in the art? I would have regretted missing that chance. I have a poem I didn’t have before. I may take it to the residency to work on, or I may just consider it done and submit it elsewhere, or I may retire it. No idea right now. And I don’t have to make the decision.
Fell to bed exhausted, and then was woken up a couple of hours later when the smoke alarm – which was removed from the ceiling months ago and was sitting on a table –went off and would not shut up. Because the damn neighbors had spread out past their space into our space and were smoking in front of our window. Not happy. Stay in your own damn space. Yes, my space is prettier and more inviting – because I took the time to make it that way.
Got the fire alarm to shut the hell up. The other one is still chirping every 30 seconds, even though it’s been wrapped in curtains for months. I have to get on maintenance for yet another set of replacements. We were waiting for the painters to be done, because in addition to humidity, paint fumes set them off. I’m worried the careless neighbors will burn the building down – and we won’t have warning, and won’t be able to get out of the front door.
So there are some practicalities to be dealt with.
Woke up at the normal time on Saturday, trying not to be grumpy, because it was hot and humid. Morning routine, nice breakfast. Did a new draft of the text portion of the art piece for the show in August, which I have to send out this week. Around 10 AM, we headed out to Greenfield so I could look at art in order to create words. I put in the coordinates to Murder Maps, requesting the route via 116 and 112.
Of course, Murder Maps tried to force me over the mountain on Rt. 2. It kept telling me to make a U turn. Nope.
I didn’t take the road past the farm they sent me last time, either, up a steep hill and unpaved roads.
I went down to Adams the normal way, and picked up 116 near Adams Fresh Market, going straight instead of taking the turn I would take to go to Pittsfield. It took us through a lovely part of Adams and Cheshire, and met up with the unpaved road I was forced on last time (but avoided this time) just before Savoy, so it was all good. Found the turn to 112, found the way to 2E at Shelbourne, made it to Greenfield and to the lot behind town hall.
My mom came with me the few blocks to LAVA Center. She sat on the comfy sofa, while I caught up with the staff, looked at the art, and photographed two pieces that particularly spoke to me.
Greenfield was brighter and more cheerful today. Or maybe it seemed that way, because I was more comfortable there. There was a No Kings rally, which was good to see, and I chatted with some of the participants for a few minutes. I left my mom on a bench at the farmers’ market and asked a cop for directions. Turns out he loves the LAVA Center and is excited to see the exhibit. We had a good talk about many things, and he gave me the directions I needed to navigate back to the roads I wanted to use (the market meant street closures).
Back in the car, back the way we came so I could learn it without Murder Maps bossing me around. I found the turn from 2W to 112 this time, instead of missing it like last time and having to go back over the mountain. It was a lovely drive back.
Stopped at Adams Fresh Market on the way home (I mean, it was right there, and they had blueberry pie).
Home, had a late lunch. Read a little, and then tried to work on the textile project. Trying to fix the error is a disaster, and I’m honestly thinking about pulling the piece from the show, because I don’t know if I can salvage it. But I have a few ideas, and I will try them. But there was a lot of discouragement and some tears.
Cheered up by more good news about “The Effie Effect” (and the whole season).
The Chewy order arrived. We are resupplied with cat litter. I also bought Tessa a new catnip carrot (hers is old and sad). I bought 3 catnip strawberries for the others, and they love them. I have a new interactive toy for Bea (she will have her year adopt-aversary with us next week). Right now, Tessa is more interested in the toy than Bea. Charlotte can’t figure it out, but she sits next to it and looks pretty. Because that her job as a princess.
Ran the small cooling unit in my room at bedtime (my mom had the oscillating fan, which she prefers). Charlotte pushed me out of the way so she could lie in front of it, which was pretty funny. It’s too loud for me to run all night and actually sleep, so I ran it until the room cooled down, slept, woke up hot, ran it until the room cooled down, and so forth.
Up early on Sunday, good meditation session. Did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which cheered me up.
Ordered a small dehumidifier unit, which is supposed to work up to 800 feet. Our entire apartment is 1250 feet, so I think we’ll be fine in the living room. It’s small and easily portable, so I can use it in the bedrooms before bedtime. It’s supposed to be delivered tomorrow. Let’s hope it doesn’t meet the delay that the personal cooling units have met.
I was feeling overwhelmed, between various deadlines I’m juggling. One deadline isn’t actually until next weekend – I’d set this weekend as the deadline for myself. But I can push that back. As far as the textile piece goes, I have to finish the text piece and then I’ll put an hour a day on the textile bit and see if there’s a way to salvage it.
The text for Greenfield isn’t due until mid-August, so I can look at the art and percolate, without worrying.
And then, of course, my second word for the large poem showed up on Sunday morning – with only 24 hours to turn it around (I wasn’t expecting it until today). After a moment of panic, I thought, “what a great opportunity! I have all these creative things happening at once. I’m so lucky.”
Okay, so I’ll be a little tired. But I’m still lucky!
I stuck the word in my brain to start the percolating. The opening came right away, but now it needs to go somewhere. There’s a 30 second limit, and I usually limit myself to about 8 lines.
Late, large breakfast, I got some work done on the ghostwriting, I showered, dressed, slapped on some makeup, and headed out (the back door, since the front door is still stuck). It was a nice drive down to Lenox, except for a small patch in Pittsfield.
I got there ridiculously early, met the playwright, caught up with my WAM colleagues, got a bottle of water and a snack, and sat on the back porch of Ventfort Hall (where the reading took place).
I drafted the poem for the word I received that morning, and did some work on the text for the textile/text project. By that time, it was time to go inside for the reading. A trio of friends, women of a certain age (like I’m not one of them now?) sat beside me, and we had a lively discussion about research and women forgotten by history before the reading began.
The reading was for ALIEN GIRLS, a play by Amy Berryman, directed by Genée Coreno, staged managed by Sara Recht (one of my literary committee colleagues). The actresses were Sarah Keyes (also a committee colleague), Nicole Orabona (a committee colleague), and Naire Poole. The piece was so much fun! It was a deep exploration of a decades-long friendship and the conflict between art and motherhood, art and betrayal and who has the right to tell a story, with a few very bizarre turns.
I’d heard of Berryman before, but was not familiar with her work. She has such a good ear, and the cadence rhythms and overall language were wonderful. And she’s so confident in her work. The talkback after was lively and fun, and everyone was reluctant to leave. But leave we did, because the company needed their dinner break (they had a 7 PM performance, too).
Because I had to work on the poem, I did not continue on to the Mount for the Word X Word sculpture walk. I drove home, working the poem in my head. It was a lovely drive, not too much traffic, and the mountains were pretty.
Home, cooked dinner, worked on the poem, got it out a little before 8 PM. Took Willa out on the back balcony in her playpen. She had a good time, and I got to read THE LOST MANUSCRIPT by Cathy Bonidan, which is a lovely novel about a woman who finds a manuscript in a hotel bedside table, and is determined to track down both its author and how it got there. It’s an epistolary novel, all told in letters, and just a delight.
I had the small cooling unit running most of the night, due to the humidity. I never got into a deep sleep because of the noise, until around 4:30, when it was cool enough to shut it off. Charlotte was delighted. She slept right in front of it all night.
Up early, morning routine, answered some emails, tended the plants on the balcony, ran around the building to get the front door open for the two expected deliveries. Caught up on some email and admin.
I printed out the two sections of poem for the large poem on July 27. As long as I don’t change the first or last word, I can tweak. I think they are where they want them, but I like options.
Typed and printed the two versions of the text for the textile piece, working title “Tell Me. . .” These versions are so very different, and I think what I want is somewhere between them. It needs to percolate.
Most of the rest of the day was spent working on the ghostwriting. And I’m still not finished, with it due today, so I better dig in. I’m in good shape, it’s just not going to get as many polishing passes as I prefer.
I took a lunch break, and then another break when the dehumidifier and the new doormat arrived. The dehumidifier is a small, sleek unit, and it seems to work well. It will be put to the test these next few days. The mandala doormat is lovely, but there’s no way it can be outside in Berkshire weather, so we are moving it around inside until we find the right spot for it. It’s much more like a rug than a doormat.
Had the cooling unit on at night, which made Charlotte happy, but made sleep more difficult. I can either not be able to sleep because it’s too hot and humid, or because of the noise of the cooler. It also means pain in my ears for hours the next day. But I can still function better than in the heat and humidity, so until the pain gets unbearable, that’s what I’ll have to do.
Bea, that little dickens, managed to remove her favorite green ball from the 3-tiered interactive toy and has hidden it. She also stashed her catnip strawberry. This morning, she stole Charlotte’s catnip strawberry. Since we can’t find it, I expect it’s with the rest of the stash. Charlotte is sulking.
I got an invitation to submit to a theatre with whom I’ve wanted to work for a year or so, an invitation to submit in two of their development categories, and I will get those out today. Then, it’s digging back into the ghostwriting. I need to get that off my desk and onto their desks before I head out to yoga this evening. If it’s too oppressive in the afternoon, I will pack up and go to a library this afternoon. The priority is to finish this ghostwriting project.
Then, tomorrow, I immediately get back to work on the next one.
We were supposed to have thunderstorms and a flood watch all yesterday into last night. We got a few sprinkles. It looks like it will rain any minute, and I wish it would, to cut the humidity. I managed to open the door from the inside early this morning before the humidity got too bad, so that’s progress.
Have a good one!
