Night Prayer Regular's Funeral

 

The last few days have felt like reality was suspended. I haven't left the house (other than to go on walks in the neighborhood), so I have basically been wearing pajamas. Because of the clouds, the days have not been light and the nights have not been dark. Any light at night is reflected off the snow and then bounces back down from the clouds, so when I look out the windows at night, there's a faint milky light in the sky. Everything is covered in snow - even the tennis court looks like lace.

Today was different. It was sunny out, and I had to get into dressy clothes and leave the house. I was going to the funeral of a Night Prayer regular who had died somewhat unexpectedly, although she had been in poor health. The roads were still a bit dicey today. It was at the same funeral home in Monona where my Irish teacher's funeral had been held, but there were a lot less people there. I got there for the visitation, but it was hard to pray a rosary because they were playing loud country music (apparently at the request of the deceased), and then her family started talking to me. I wasn't sure she would have mentioned me to them, since I am just one of many people on Night Prayer, but they said they had heard my name. Then the deacon arrived who was leading the service, and he asked Richard Bonomo to do the readings and me to do the intentions. Everything was going fine until I almost started reading the deacon's next line; I caught myself, but then I kind of giggled. That is not very dignified during a funeral!

An even smaller group went to the burial, and that was on the far west side of town, so we had to go in a funeral procession on the Beltline. I don't ever need to do that again! It's very nerve-wracking to be driving forty miles an hour on there while people are whipping around you and trying to merge on and off, so you have to let them but you are still trying to keep in sight of the people ahead of you... and behind you. Somehow we all got to the cemetery, and then there was an even briefer service in the chapel and some fun stories about the guest of honor. She would have been seventy-one today, so we sang her Happy Birthday. Then they told us the burial would be private, just for the family, and there was no mention of a luncheon, so Rich and I had a late lunch at La Baguette, a little French bakery right nearby. I had a brie sandwich on a baguette, and Rich and I split an almond pear tart and a chocolate tart. Then I thought about going to work, but by the time I wound my way back to campus, there wouldn't have been much time, since I had to be in an online meeting at 5:30 and I preferred to log in from home than from my office. Also, I would have had to pay to park. Since I'd requested the whole day off and had an out-of-office message saying I'd be out all day, I just headed home to walk while praying the rosary for the deceased. By then it had clouded over again, so it was not too cold out, but gloomy like the last few days.

Hopefully the plants at work are okay. I watered them last Thursday and the Thursday before, so it was the right time to water them again. We're going to be snowed in again tomorrow and probably Saturday, and Monday is a holiday. I probably won't get to water them before next Wednesday, but they are supposedly plants that can tolerate less watering: two ZZ plants in my office, an aloe vera in one of the TA offices, and a small dracaena in the library. That is the one I'm most concerned about, but it's also the one most likely to be watered by anyone else who happens to be around this week. Anyway, it felt good to get out in the Real World and see someone besides Travalon in Real Life (not just Zoom), especially since that won't happen for the next few days. Travalon doesn't have to work tomorrow (I will, remotely), and he brought me a kit for painting rocks with glow-in-the-dark paint, so that's what I will probably spend Saturday doing. Our original plan had been to visit Ma and Pa Hat in Minnesota, but there is no way we can get to another state - we'd be lucky to get out of our driveway, from what they're saying - so this is my Plan B. I'll post a photo of the finished products - they should look great under the blacklight!

Famous Hat