On this date in 1988 my guinea pig died. He was three. I know this is a compelling moment in history, but bear with me. The only reason I remember the date is that it was my best friends birthday and I got home from her party to find my dear, dear, G.P. dead as a doornail. A tragic event. Currently I am at my grandparent's house in Lynchburg, VA--I haven't been down here in over a year but it has been nice. My grandfather and I get along very well; we just kind of understand one another. I've had the chance to talk to him for several hours--I feel like he thinks its going to be our last conversation, a notion that depresses me on one hand but gives me peace in knowing that we have had the opportunity to really get to know one another. He and my father are very close--thing is, he is my mother's father, and being that my mother and father don't exactly get along (understatement of the year) my grandfather and father rarely get to see each other. But oh do they care deeply for the other--my grandfather said, "You know, I love him like my own son. I don't like to hug other men, but I love to hug your father; I wish he was my son." That breaks my heart!
By the way, my father and I fixed Roy the Raging Tempo the other day. Turns out it wasn't the alternator but the power steering belt, so we went and picked up a new one at Antetiam Automotive and spent the afternoon working on it--one of us under the car, one above it, both cursing and cutting ourselves. Theory is, a job isn't done until a Spooner bleeds, and boy is that ever true. We can't even write christmas cards without some sort of injury. But the car works for now, can't say it will work tomorrow but lets hope so because I have to drive home from my sister's house. Still no plans for new years--spend it with the boys possibly, possibly with Josh (!), maybe simply with family. Break has been just what I needed--free time to read, sleep and play, friends to be "bored" with, family to talk with, a white christmas--a simply summation of quality time. I'm in the middle of "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers; it's a phenominal book, highly recommend it. Anyway, think I'll go read more of it.
