today was a funny day.
i woke at 6:00 am to the voices of men shouting, urgently. my windows were open and the neighbor in the house next door was being taken away via stretcher down their outside steps. he must not have been responding favorably (we're not going to hurt you. we're not going to hurt you. we're almost to the bottom). i slept a little more, the sounds of storms and rain twisting their way into my dreams. i made a late breakfast by lamplight- the sky so dark it felt like evening, but in a comforting way, in a way that's like a blanket tucked tight around your toes.
at work, the overhead lights weren't working. we have an extra book cart in our workspace right now, so tightly packed into the desk area that scooting one's chair requires shifting of walls. a play pen of old books on rusty wheels. dim, dusty. some items wrapped in paper and tied with supportive strings. i used the desk lamp until the clouds cleared, making me wonder how i'll feel when the flourescents are repaired.
tonight the tornado sirens went off and i debated traveling to the basement. you have to go outside to get down there, past the overflowing gutter and sinking mud. i watched the trees out my window and thought about how quickly they could crash through, how much they were moving already. i placed a stool in my closet and then thought better. i've never been in the basement before but it's about what you'd expect: dirty, full of stuff no one owns, and former home to an opossum who sneaked in through the window. i talked to one of my neighbors whom i've never met. she had her child, a laundry basket, and the same name as me.
Joel was home with the cats when the sirens went off. Fortunately our house is all brick and concrete, so it would likely stand up well to a tornado. He sat in the bathtub with a book and Marlowe, who thought it was fun party-times. Coraline was disgusted with the whole business and hid under the bed.
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