Monday, July 03, 2006

A Quiet Day

No pictures today, so you visual people will just have to imagine what I'm talking about.

I walked down to Murky Coffee on 7th St SE with the dog while in-laws, Cap'n and Slim snooze at the house. I got to sleep til 8am (yes, EIGHT IN THE MORNING) today, so that must be why I'm so alive at this late hour of 7:30pm.

It's a warm, warm evening, still probably in the 80s, and one of the two other dogs on the patio here at Murky's just left. The other Aussie, as a matter of fact. Blonde mutt is still resting nearby. Mia is amazingly tolerant so far, which reminds me to knock on wood. She's usually a bit dog aggressive, so I'm surprised there's not been more barking already.

Like I said, it's sweating weather, even though the sun has already set behind the buildings. The city hangs on to the heat for longer. I like the peace and quiet of having some knitting/blogging time.

I'm Magic Looping two socks on one circ. The stats: Claudia Handpainted in Caribbean Blue on US1 40" Addi Turbos. I'm using this tutorial. At some point I've already screwed up because the first stitches are not on the same rounds. I don't think it will make much difference, though.

Today, the family took a trip over to the Holocaust Museum, my third time there. I took charge of Slim so that everyone else could take their time to look through. He was an incredibly good baby today, and I still had time to see some of the exhibits I had not yet seen while he napped in the backpack.

It's a somber place, and I cried again at one of the video testimonials by a survivor. She described the selection process as they arrived by train at one of the camps. One of the Jewish workers warned her mother to take her grandchild from her daughter. So the old woman went to her daughter (the sister of the survivor), and told her, "I've just learned that women with children will be able to have an easy time watching the children, while the others will have hard labor. You know I can't handle hard labor." So before her daughter could argue, she took her grandson and was pushed by the guards to the other line. Before she was moved on, she called out to her other daughter (the one telling the story), and said, "Take care of your sister." Because she knew, that by taking the grandson, she had ensured her daughter's survival and sent herself and her 2-year-old grandson to death. They were both gassed.

It's hard, having a child and thinking that people had to make choices like that all the time. I cuddled Slim a little tighter.

After the museum, I fixed chicken schnitzel for everyone, and everyone immediately passed out after dinner. It was emotionally draining experience today.

So now, it's a quiet night. And it's good to be able to enjoy life.

No comments: