Today being at work doesn’t feel nearly as burdensome as it did Friday. The office re-do courtesy of my friend Ellen certainly helps. I also dug out a crystal that had been given to me by a friend years (about 23!) ago and hung that in the window, so I can give it a spin and watch the wild dance of spectra.
Saturday was the memorial service for a dear friend of mine who died unexpectedly last month. This is the first friend I’ve had who has died of more-or-less natural causes, and I am simply not ready to accept that someone in my peer group has been around long enough that it’s appropriate for her to be leaving. She was a good match for me—we shared all sorts of semi-obscure interests, including a fascination with space exploration, an enthusiasm for ballroom dance, and an occasionally eye-rolling appreciation for the choreography of Michael Smuin. It only takes one good connection to make a friendship, but she and I had all sorts of connections, so there have been and will be many moments when I come across something I want to share with her, then realize that opportunity has passed. The service, which we held at the local Quaker church, was surprisingly comforting: I’d been resenting the need to mourn and to mark her death in such a definite way, but I loved getting to meet her different circles of friends and getting to see the affection and appreciation others had for her.
Sunday, I felt able to step a bit more solidly back into my own life. Melissa helped me get a start on the week’s cooking, including several good recipes from the latest issue of Vegetarian Times (definitely worth checking out, even if—like me—you’re not a vegetarian). And heedless of the number of projects I currently have on the needles, I cast on for something new—
one of the “Grand-Plan Capelets” from Wrap Style. I’m knitting it in (surprise, surprise!) Malabrigo, the creamed carrot colorway, which glows like a spring sunrise.
Now that I’m properly caffeinated and have indulged in a perusal of the new patterns on Ravelry, I’ll settle down to my “real” work. I have class enrollments to check and a syllabus to finalize, but I’m hoping I can plow through those quickly enough for a bit of backyard knitting while the sun’s still out.
Clear-outs are horrible in prospect, but such a relief afterwards, and then you wonder what all the fuss was about. How sad about your friend, though the memorial sounds like it helped to bring some comfort/closure for you.
On another tack, love the cape – looks like Little Red Riding Hood!
I am sorry to hear about your friend. x
The caelet looks nice, I just got that book in a sale but i am not sure what to knit from it yet.
Clear outs are really hard and the bigger they are, the worse. I like that sweet Capelet enough to buy the book. Did I just say that? *shock*
Really sorry to hear about your friend passing away suddenly. There are no easy ways to say that final goodbye in life. We have our memories and they must sustain us. Sending some (((Hugs))) and