Negative Capability

”Negative Capability, that is when man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts without any irritable reaching after fact & reason.” -- John Keats

November and April, those infamous in between months, seems like good times to ponder Keats’ idea of Negative Capability. The world is in a certain limbo at these times, shifting in quiet ways that often go unnoticed. My own life kind of feels like that right now too.

The lake’s bay is completely covered with a thin skim of ice. Considering that it was 38 degrees when I was driving home from trivia last night, I’m not surprised that we don’t have solid ice yet. When I pressed the tip of my shoe against the ice this morning, water instantly welled up and rippled over the half-inch layer of ice’s surface.

Tickets for Avenue Q’s April run at the Orpheum in Minneapolis went on sale this morning. I snatched up two tickets for the Saturday evening performance and it looks like we’ll have seats that aren’t completely in the nose bleed section . . . unlike Phantom last June. With the tickets booked, the basic infrastructure for April’s travel plans is completely laid out. Now to figure out the details like city passes, rental cars, and of course, which Broadway show to see when I’m actually in New York City proper.

Andy’s sick again with sinus junk. It’s times like these that I remember why I didn’t go into nursing. I want him to feel better, but I come from a family that is loath to take painkillers and who adopts the “suck it up” attitude until truly dreadful illness strikes. I bring him ice packs and cold water, but not a whole lot of empathy. Last night I bought him some Haagen-Dazs coffee ice cream to sooth his sore throat. Hopefully I’ll stop self-medicating myself with the ice cream and actually save some for when Andy feels like eating it.

The cookie article is done and was well-received. It looks as though this may turn into a regular gig. One step closer to actually making my living with my pen (and keyboard.) That gives me some momentum for the rest of my writing projects and I’ve picked up steam with the November goals’ list this week. I really want to make some buttery Norwegian holiday cookies now though. It’s probably time to start putting serious thought into what this year’s gingerbread house is going to look like.

The mundane knitting of go around and around in circles on Mom’s Christmas present is nearly over. We’ll see if I can get it finished up, for the most part, over the weekend. Then on to some more Christmas presents and a rather exciting wedding present project.

I’m on the first of two days off now and I’m not quite sure what to do with them. We don’t really need groceries so a trip to town isn’t warranted although I do have a paycheck that could get deposited. I should probably keep my butt parked at the desk and actually finish up the current chapter of the WIP I’m editing, but it’s such a lovely crisp autumn day outside, a good long walk may be in order first.

It's also time to figure out a new location for the bird feeder. I caught the pine marten in the act of pilfering sunflower seeds. He's cute enough to look at, but I have a feeling there's plenty of food out there for him without him having to eat the bird seed.