So. I am not keeping up with my previous month’s blogging activity, I know. There have been a couple reasons – so let me share them.
Memory Loss. I once heard that when someone asked Lucille Clifton, a poet I love, why all her poems were so short, she replied that she had 6 children, and that while poems came to her all day long, she could only remember 10 lines until the end of the day when she could sit down with a pencil. I know what she means. I have had some zingers lately, but with the new summer schedule, landscaping projects underway, sudden resurgent interest in a tidy home and Dad’s stuff, I haven’t even been able to remember 10 lines, much less a great idea.
Dad’s Stuff. Ok, so I know I mentioned that my Dad has cancer. And that’s the thing. Dad has cancer. I don’t, but because I love him, and want to hang out with him, I kind of feel like I am running along next to the runaway train yelling “Hey, what’s that? How does that feel? Whoa! What are you going to do about that?” A lot of my time lately has been spent hanging out with Dad, going to doctors with Dad, or thinking about Dad. However, in spite of all that, I hadn’t gotten around to asking Dad if he minds if I exploit his life all over my site. His cancer is not mine, I know that. But there I am running along side for some of it, trying to lend some sort of meager support, and it’s a big enough thing that it’s most of what I think about these days.
So I asked, and his response was that it was fine, because then he could read it, and see how he is doing. For the record, Dad, you are doing great.
mostlyjenine 
I am happy that you are getting to spend time with your Dad and to help him through the ordeal of having cancer. My fater died in 2003 and I was fortunate to spend the last days with him. Although I knew it was near the end, it was the best days of my life with my Dad because I got to help him for a change and to share very deeply in his life. For that I am very grateful.