May 3, 2014

Realization that a number of women in the Wednesday class cheated on the exam. Someone kept a prompt from Tuesday and distributed it. It was folly to use the same prompt for both days, I suppose, but folly based on trust. It is wearisome. It was related in my mind to Russia’s fantastic mendacity concerning Crimea, to invade and blame the victim for aggression, to invent out of thin air and defy correction rather than face the reality of the deed. I thought it was just the Republicans, but the whole world is like that. Evidence is mocked at as a kind of absurdity. Truth is what you say with pure-hearted self-justification. Among the things I worried about for the End of Days, this never appeared until it was fully abroad in the world.

Nevertheless, one’s own life churns along. Excellent hours at the studio yesterday. The garden there looks well. I made it relatively labor-free as I never did at 62. I finished paintings I’m going to give to the new babies in the department.

I sat in my backyard in the sun. I think the edge of the soccer fields at Hiram with Heather was the last time I sat in the sun without the ocean nearby. It was blissful. Only the thought of sunburn and cancer made me move at all. The only place from which I am visible naked in my yard--should I be-- is from my old house. Maybe I'll keep it for the sake of modesty.

In the evening I went to Wordfest in the Lenoir-Rhymes rooms at the Chamber of Commerce. Excellent refreshments. Excellent gospel/blues singer. Excellent poet named Irania who did her song-like works in English and Spanish. Laura is a vibrant if overabundant introducer. The problem with striving for inclusiveness is that some of the things included are going to be bad. I am perpetually amazed at the capacity of my people for hearing the same old thing in the same old way. I read tonight. I was the only one who reads tonight who listened to the ones who read last night.

I have too many plans for today to achieve them all. That is well. It assures joyful receipt of the following day. Many, many birds singing in the tree tops. The trees between me and the supermarket are thronged with frogs