Vivaldi on a fine day

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Comfortable weather here is a rarity, and this is one of the first in this our all-too-brief “Cool Season.” One can never count on many more fine days, so one must enjoy each one as a rare gift. I put my lawn chair outside, but I put it in the shade. I also wore a headband since I sweat whenever I move around, even in our winter; I took off my shirt; and I still put plenty of ice in my big thermos beer mug.

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I’ve been reading a lot of philosophy lately, so I needed music that is non-invasive. (English lyrics disrupt my thinking, and instrumentals are best.) I picked Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” and played it over and over while reading about dialectical philosophical traditions (Aristotle, Aquinas, Hegel, Marx, Rand) on my Kindle.

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I’m recovering from a bit of a low spell, but I’m on the upward mend. A recent bout of thrombosis has stopped all major exercise, and I am very weak. Going to the hospital every day for a while allowed me to catch a head cold. (Where are contagiously sick people assembled together? At a hospital. A hermit like me rarely mixes with others.)

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One of our cats, Silly Willy, is on death’s door with an untreatable virus, but he was outside today. He is skinny and pathetic, but he’s an old friend, and he sat on my lap while I read. He is still alert and notices birds and other critters that he would have otherwise chased down if he had felt his normal self. Willy and me: two sickies.

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I had a rather confusing wake up at dawn today. (I think that I’ve written about this same illusion before.) While in bed, I looked out the window (without my glasses on) and saw white fluttering things around the blossoming tree/hedge on the perimeter wall. While we sometimes forget the month of the year here because of such a different climate, I was well aware of it being December. So I thought: okay, those are snowflakes dancing over the tree. Wait a minute … it doesn’t snow here, and trees don’t normally blossom in snow. What is happening? I put on my glasses and resolved the issue. It was a bunch of butterflies hovering around the pink blossoms. It’s a geographical confusion.

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Tonight may be my best chance of seeing the Geminid meteor showers if I go up on our roof. Previous nights have been too cloudy – we seldom ever see stars or clear skies here – but I will venture up there tonight in a last-ditch effort for some (beloved) astronomical viewing. City lights and tropical haze make frustrating obstacles to seeing the beautiful night skies. All I want is a peek.

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-Zenwind.

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