Word Furrows from Emily

sanguine
limpid
luging
animal husbandry
stuffed animal
fondler
petter

today is celeste’s birthday. she is seven years old. she’s been asking me lately if i was aware that her birthday was coming up. and i said of course i know, it’s written on my calendar and most probably in my heart. etched in stone as it were, though my heart is not of stone made. words strum upon its sanguine countenance the secret songs of formidable love.

for chistmas celeste received a doll-sized quilt with a matching pillow, which i made for her with barbie dolls and stuffed animals in mind. i had visions of little teddy bears all a-snug and cozy under the pink crazy quilt. actually, my vision was of a corgi dog being snug and cozy, so i found some small corgi dogs online which resembled my hamlet in coloring. all of the kids got them along with the quilts. for celeste and margaux, i threw in a barbie for good measure. i’m more interested in stuffed animal husbandry than in plastic barbie dolls for kids, but what the hell. everything was wrapped up neatly and placed under the limpid lights of old tannenbaum. it goes without saying the wrappings didn’t last long in that house on christmas day. i have vague recollections of children galloping through the house, pausing here and there to tear at the latest gift or to wrestle with its plastic toy encapsulation. in other words, a feeding frenzy. instead of snow for christmas we had rain, and knew full well the kids would be indoors for the day. not a chance to try out luging on the new sled but rather to open every one-thousand piece package of legos or playmobil.

as for me, i barely got a word in with anyone - be it french or english. i vaguely remember fondling my dog from time to time, as he lay huddled under my legs, trying to escape from the one year old’s grasping hands. i’m a good fondler of dogs, a real good petter. and when my dog is in mortal fear for his life, he becomes an excellent subject for petting. it’s the only time he’ll stay still long enough.

as for celeste’s birthday, i ordered her the 100 color marker set which should be coming any day now.

it was emily who bought me one of those for my birthday back in portland, oregon, whatever year it was that my birthday fell in portland - and along with the marker set she gave me the most beautiful coloring books i’ve ever seen.

filled with excruciatingly detailed drawings of frogs and lizards, or birds and toads, and all i had to do was color in every minute area.

and i had 100 colors to choose from! the best gift ever!

so now, when the girls come a-visiting their auntie, i whip out the coloring set and we all go nuts. even stephane did one of an eagle, and michele has started up on a bunch of geese. celeste likes to freestyle on a blank piece of paper, so i’m just giving her the markers and not the coloring books.

i can’t wait to see what she’ll do.