23 NOV 25

Wake from dreams of mountain-cracking earthquake... slow splintering right up the side of it...

...to a little light harpsichord for the morning rush... Oxbear and I had both hit snooze multiple times without realizing it...

An hour later in the service... Yali and Patience elbowing each other in the pew under thundering Medieval pipe organ...

Then down at Bible study László walks over to chat saber fencing... the bloodbath of fencing blades...

...while Oxbear confirms his order of ten pounds of homemade sausage from the Men's Club over in the gym kitchen...

A few hours later I'm with the boys in Dutchtown pulling layers of damp oak leaves slowly moldering and mulching themselves into the ground from the Mac's former back lot to prepare it for market...

Yali is a little sulky at first... until B calls him over to load armfuls of leaves into trashcans which B then relays to the yard waste dumpster in the alley and Yali becomes a leaf-packing machine... whole dumpster filled before we leave the leaves to grab Patience babysitting with G-ma...

Home in gray mist of twilight to change into warm clean clothes and a hot dinner and peppermint bark...

Later... while Patience is busy arguing with Oxbear about lip gloss...

...Yali finds me to share a particular thought... “Mom...” **looks solemnly at me** “...if I get a girlfriend and I'm playing a video game... if she asks me to get her something... I will immediately stop playing that game and I will get it for her”...