Journal of a Sabbatical

December 23, 2000

did i forget something?

Today's Reading:

Reminiscences of a Nonagenarian by Sara Anna Emery

Winter from the Journal of Henry David Thoreau edited by H.G.O. Blake

The Zen Works of Stonehouse translated by Red Pine

I finally finished reading Tall Trees and Far Horizons. On the whole I liked it very much as a history of the early botanizing of North America. Eifert's style is a little "gee whiz" and a little too omniscient - how exactly does she know what David Douglas was feeling in that pit? But it's a good read. The only major complaint I have is that her chapter on Thoreau as botanist covers only The Maine Woods, and doesn't really portray him as as serious a botanist as he truly was. And I would have liked to read more about Asa Gray. That said, I learned stuff I didn't know about folks like André Michaux and John Muir. For an older kid or young adult who wants to know about the great botanical explorers, it's definitely recommended.

Meanwhile, I've been cowering in fear of my neighbor the Busy Body since Thursday. Why? Well, she's gotten it into her head that it's somehow my fault that there's ice in the parking lot.

This all started a few days ago. We've had a couple of minor snow and ice storms, not much accumulation but some really solid ice. The condo association policy is they don't clear the parking lots unless there's more than 2 inches of snow, and then they only do it after the snow stops. They plow a straight line down the parking lot from the road to the end of the courtyard and keep that clear when there's any accumulation at all, and they sand the ice along the same track that they plowed but they don't make everyone move their cars and do a thorough snow removal pass (which often involves a front end loader and a dump truck).

We had just under 2 inches of snow on Wednesday and a bit more on Thursday but nothing serious. I have had no trouble getting in and out of the parking lot. The 2 inch policy seems reasonable to me, and I had no reason to complain to the new management company because they did exactly what the old management company did and followed the condo's policy.

Thursday when I was getting in my car to drive to Ned's, Busy Body stopped me in the parking lot and began to harangue me about how they had cleared every courtyard but ours (not true - I drove around the block and looked) and demanded to know why I hadn't called them to complain. I made a feeble attempt to explain that there wasn't 2 inches of snow. Well then I got a harangue about how she is risking her life by shoveling the parking lot because she had carpal tunnel surgery (since when is carpal tunnel fatal? It hurts like hell, but fatal?) and she shouldn't have to be the only one who complained and on and on until I finally lost it and started arguing with her.

She even tried to convince me there was more than 2 inches of snow. "Don't you read the Eagle Tribune?" she asks. Well, no, not every day. In fact hardly ever. "There was a terrible accident at Butcher Boy because of the snow. There was 3 inches of snow at Butcher Boy." I did not even attempt to understand how not having our parking lot cleared caused an accident at Butcher Boy, which is nearly a mile away, never mind to explain that 3 inches in Lawrence or wherever the Eagle Tribune measure it does not always mean 3 inches in North Andover (495 does something to the weather patterns).

Then she blamed me for not calling to complain that there was no heat and hot water one day a week or so ago. She told me she got up at 5:00 AM to drive her son to work (why do sheltered workshops start work so early in the morning?) and had to boil water on the stove because there was no hot water. She called the management company at 5:30 AM to report it. She called them again at 6:30 AM because they hadn't fixed it yet. They told her nobody else had complained. So, now a week or so later she demands to know why I didn't complain. Umm, because I didn't get up until 8:30 and by then there was a truck here to fix it? Why complain if they're already fixing it?

It went on like that until I finally drove off with her still lecturing me about how she's the only one who ever reports anything and she pays $$$$ in condo fees etc. etc. etc. Now she pops out of her unit when she sees me coming out of mine or when I return in my car. I swear she waits by the door just to have a chance to lecture me about my not complaining. I dread leaving my unit.

I waited until I was sure she'd left in her car before I left to go meet the walking buddies at Priscilla's house. I was in no mood to be blamed for anything or to have it called to my attention how inadequate I am.

For some reason instead of setting off on our walk right away we sat around the living room looking at the latest pictures of Rita's grandchildren. Then Priscilla gets going on how her oldest son just turned 48, but she was a child bride and had all her children by age 25. Then everybody started saying the age by which they'd had all their children. OK, this is not exactly something I relate to. Then Joan-east comes out with "What about you Janet? When are you going to have your children by?" Excuse me, what children? I pulled my jacket up over my face to hide my beet red flush. Darn, I knew there was something I forgot. I forgot to have children! As Andrea always used to say about anything she didn't want to do, is there a law?