the five-year-old told us, upon being picked up at school on friday, that he had swallowed a marble at the suggestion of his friend. there were aspects of the story that changed, and were unbelievable to begin with, so we were wary about it and wondered whether just to take him in and have him thoroughly "imaged"...in the end we just watched. and checked to see if "this too shall pass"...so far, not yet.

also on friday came word that there would be a possible tornado spawned in a system coming through sunday night, in the middle of the night. interestingly they were exactly right about that and sunday night, actually monday morning at about 2 am, a storm came through and the siren sounded though i never got any actual evidence that a real tornado came of it. this was devastating for those who are unable to sleep when they worry, but not so bad for me, who actually worries better in my sleep, and get back to sleep easily so as to encourage the process. needless to say though we all were a little bleary in the morning and somehow i forgot to bring my glasses to work, thus meaning i have to do this (which i can do without seeing) as opposed to doing e-mail and dealing with actual business.

it's a grind, the whole work-day thing, with no glasses, trying to squint at things that really matter, but i'll try to keep it a secret, as the day goes on, by not bumping into things or staring blankly into things i just can't make out. the doctor has given us a reprieve on the five-year-old- wait, they say, let things happen, eventually you will forget about it and it will find its natural way out, everything will be ok. one guy said, be glad it wasn't a toy soldier, the kind that is holding a gun out so that it would scrape all the way down, and leave you sore in the places it had trouble fitting through. if it was going to block his breathing, it already would have; if not, we may never know about it but who cares? this too shall pass, we assume, life goes on, he gets older and presumably a little wiser about the things his friends suggest.

time sneaks up, and i'll be going to new orleans soon, on a gonzo mission to my annual conference that will include seeing old friends and turning straight around because my wife will be on crutches, recovering from knee surgery. it causes stress, just thinking about it. but what else is new...the croci sit there waiting; it's cold and raining, remnants of the storm still passing through; the air is cold and wet, and the memory of a midnight shiver at the bottom of a storm shelter, in a slightly moldy and damp place, ah but this would be better than being in a house that was tumbling. my wife speaks wistfully of california and oceanfront places where you not only hear the beach, but don't have to live with this tenuous reality. ah yes but i suppose you can come unhinged entirely out there, and just fall into the ocean, with the slightest bit of earthquaky provocation, and then what? i suppose every place has its hazards, and being out of sleep on a given monday, is probably a recoverable malady.