Goodbye, my good friend Susann

My former neighbor and friend, her birthday and mine were nine days apart. Opposites in some ways, we had many things in common. Her husband called today today to say she had gotten very ill and passed away. The funeral is Sat. I saw her for the last time 3 months ago when we got Carmelita; she was one on the first to visit, bearing doggie gifts. A ovarian cancer survivor, she said she had been ill but didn't go into details and said she was out of danger. Craig said she died of lung cancer and the end came very fast-
She was one of the nicest, sweetest, big-hearted women I knew, a modern southern belle with concern for all, with all her priorities in the right place.
She was also a wonderful artist. She did large, fanciful paintings in a color-wash style, full of wonderful, interesting images; telling an entire story on a canvas.
We met over 20 years ago, when I moved into Steve's place in the Slope.Susann worked at home a lot and we would meet in the hallway or on the street and chat, only the "chats" went on for hours. Over the years we developed more formal meetings, not often, but consistently ( always for our birthdays) and we always re-affirmed our friendship when we did.
I'm so sad that I didn't get in touch with her in these last months when I thought of her often but did not call, I'm so sorry that she never told me. I don't know what I could have done, but at least I could have offered moral support, I could have said goodbye. But that was Susann, she would not have wanted to bother anyone, especially with her own illness or sadness, even though she herself was the first one to offer her own help and support to all.
I cannot get my mind around the fact that she is gone and why. And Craig and her beloved kitties, George and Gracie, all alone. She was too young, too vital, too talented to die. I mourn the loss of a wonderful, beautiful women and a good friend who Steve and I both loved.

The end is near

We are not going to any homestores today! I hope they won't worry about us.
The decisions are done. The paint colors and tiles (8 kinds) have at last been selected. Lighting and plumbing fixtures have been acquired. The walls are jointed and smoothed, ready to tile. The sinks and toilet bowls, bless them, are waiting to be joined to their fittings. It is an acrobatic challenge to move or breathe in this house with all this stuff. But the cabinets come tomorrow. The impossible-to-acquire laminate countertop ( they sent 100 samples, but you can't actually buy the stuff) of our dreams has been replaced by a formica alternative. Done deal. Our fantasy of once again enjoying running water may soon become a reality. I know I will have to deal with a lot more dust before the completion, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel! Well actually, it's the light coming through the whole in the dropsheet the Caramelly ate, but still. No Lowe's today!!!

Weltschmerz and the longest day of the year

Some weeks ago, the National Scripps spelling bee was broadcast on national TV. Not So you think you can dance?, but my kind of reality programming anyway. Yes, geeky. The penultimate word given was Weltshmerz, a condition from which I have been suffering from my earliest memory without knowing that such a word existed. Ah, the Germans have great words for things.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Weltschmertz \Welt"schmertz`\, n. [G., fr. welt world + schmertz
pain. See World; Smart, v. i.]
Sorrow or sadness over the present or future evils or woes of
the world in general; sentimental pessimism.

So a rep from the Wall Street Journal called yesterday asking me to re-up my subscription. I pleaded Weltschmerz and told him all his news was bad. He didn't even bother with a sales pitch, he just thanked me and hung up. Huh! Well, I learned long ago that acting nutso, or at my age "eccentric", can eliminate a lot of unnecessary personal and public interaction.
Of course when one desires such congress, it it not to be had. It is curious and bizarre that one is constantly barraged with sales pitches everywhere in our society, indeed we are not safe in our own homes anymore, yet when trying to actually purchase an item, competent assistance is nowhere to be found. In the course of our reno, we need to chose many, many, items. We are simple folk, with plain tastes. (Shucks) Logistics and logic send us to Home Depot and Lowe's on a daily basis. We have taken to relying on other bewildered customers for advice and assistance and are ready to share ours. Like the ton of research on toilets, for instance. Many decisions have been reached with kind strangers.
Last night after a particularly long tile search,(floors, walls, backsplashes!) we returned home to find that Caramel ate a hole in the plastic sheeting sealing off the kitchen from the rest of the house, for the dual purposes of poop & pee. It was pretty considerate of her when you think of it, there's no floor to ruin in there. The plastic is a joke, it keeps falling off cause it's too dusty to stick. I feel like I'm living in the Negev ( halevi!) except it's as humid and hot as a jungle. NY in summer! I can mark the workers progress by the color of the dust I wipe up perpetually. The red brick dust is making way for the white dust from sanding the joint compound. I am writing this on the second-floor office. This keyboard is covered in dust. I can see the roof of the kitchen below, covered in red. Outside, the air is thick with pollen and pollutants. Oi vavoi! I am overcome by Schmutzschmerz, a sorrow or sadness over the present or future dust and dirt of my world!
Happily, we are having dinner at a friends house tonight, dustfree!
A joyous solstice to all and to all a late night.