Working at night

.. has completely messed up my sleeping cycles.. If I get up at my usual time, (around 6 am) I am hallucinating by 8 pm.. driving home I have missed my exit on the beltway twice now and have to drive to the next exit which adds 15 miles to my drive.. then I have to stay awake enough not to miss the exit again on the way back...
and how boring is this.. writing about missing my exit..

So I will tell you about the mouse drama. My cat has stopped catching mice.. I think he is losing his eyesight. He has cataracts that seem to glow red in direct light... maybe I am imagining that... any way. I resorted to glue traps after I found a dead mouse floating in Grendel's water dish. He was not happy about that part either..

I caught two mice. One dragged the trap under the dishwasher. When I went to move the dishwasher, I popped the solder on the hot water lead. So then the dead mouse floated out from under the dishwasher on it's glue trap raft in the rush of hot water. The whole experience was very diminishing. The glue trap is like... mouse hell. The evidence of his struggle to get away... but getting eaten by Grendel must also be unpleasant.

I finally managed to solder the pipe again and things seem to have settled down for now. I have an uneasy relationship with animals, I don't quite trust them. The night the mouse drowned in his bowl, Grendel was so freaky that I locked him out of my room. I thought maybe he had rabies.
Of course, his behavior was totally appropriate, I mean how gross..
I would not have wanted to deal with the mouse at three o'clock in the morning in any case.

There is something quite creepy about being bumped, trod upon and bitten by an animal who wants me to get up and attend to some random event, like the night the raccoons came in and ate 25 pounds of premium cat food. I think it is better not to learn shocking things in the middle of the night.

Witness Bronze raku tiles shells and fossils

all and everything

I have decided to accept what comes my way and honor what comes to me as a way of trusting that what comes is a result of all the hard work I have done. I did in fact get my graduate degree.. a very big deal ..
I returned home and my cat is alive. I am combing out tons of hair...He only threw up about four times and there was a lot of stuff in the box.. which is good because:
A:that means the cat alimentary canal is healthy and the more in the box the less surprises elsewhere..
B: there was a sea of clumped clay, !! so yes; the corollary.. less in unexpected places/ Yes. oh yes very. very nice..

My art dealer called and said there is a big deal on the table.. oh yeah.. we all dream of this.. something to pay off all the loans at once.. I used to make a lot of money.. ha ha..

I learned something very important while at Goddard.. totally appreciate what is working in your life and practice.. delight in the folks who show up ..remember that stuff comes up to get in the way of good intentions. Also. give your graduation presentation in the dark and then you can imagine everyone you love is there...
There is not enough time to convince any one that you have value.. there is barely enough time to thank the folks who are truly there for you..