inklingfair Sometimes my brain responds in fun ways to meds or dose changes (see: that time I took allergy meds and had a really lucid dream). I had been mostly dreamless — or more likely dream memory-less — the past few months because of the sleep regulating meds, but the past week since Dr K said I could take them only as needed, it’s been A Trip. I had decided to lower the dose for a couple of weeks, and I’ve been waking up earlier in the morning, which was good.
I did sleep quite lightly for a couple of nights, drifting in and out of dreamscapes of being chased by an evil shapeshifter across vaguely familiar school campuses and being assigned to a co-ed dorm room with Sh, a high school classmate, and three other boys. The bed arrangements were strange — I think my brain picked up on the St. James dorm rooms with bunk beds and mattresses up in the loft. Sh’s ex K kept sleeping over, which began to annoy our roommates. I know there was more, but maybe I’ll remember better when I’ve weaned off the meds.
Another upside to lowering the dose is that I’m not groggy when Daniel wakes up and starts clambering over everyone looking for someone awake to wrestle/chatter with. Most of the time he just pulls books off the dresser and starts “reading” to himself, exclaiming “sun!” “apple!” “car!” and singing garbled baby songs. When he notices my eyes are open, he squeezes himself into my arms and pinches and kisses my face, drool and all. It’s funny when Amy also wakes up and scoots over for a hug and Daniel protests loudly and tries to kick her away. Then they start bickering over blankets and books, waking Josh up (if he isn’t up early to meet a client). Josh, hair all standing up, stumbles half-awake to the kitchen to make coffee. If he has time, he gets Daniel’s milk and tries to get him to say thank you (it never happens; Daniel just grabs the bottle and Josh resigns himself to letting Daniel lie down/do acrobatics over him while having his milk).
Yesterday morning after shooing out the children and making the beds, I found a moth trapped inside the screen window, and I immediately thought of how Kyungsoo in EXO Ladder used a cup and a piece of cardboard to safely capture a moth and set it free outside. I did the same and called Amy who was eating breakfast to look at the moth as I gingerly set the upended cup with the moth down on the veranda’s brick shelf, slid away the cardboard then lifted the cup. The moth sat there for a few seconds as if dazed, then I gently prodded it with the cardboard until it flew off. Amy was delighted.
That afternoon I rode a beep minibus from Commonwealth to Kalayaan for the first time in years (now P17), then got off at the corner to walk the few hundred meters to DAKILA. As I crossed the street of our old apartment, I saw a fishball cart and had some chicken balls in spicy sauce (P10 for 4, but now smaller) and gulaman (P10 cold brown sugar water with a teeny amount of actual gulaman) before walking the rest of the way.
A and I talked about the PETA design for an hour or so, mostly about this and bridging the perspective gap on both ends, and we barely had time to align on Educ stuff before the climate crisis Katipon began. The Bacolod speakers and L did really well, and Kr was able to join us from COP27 in Egypt. Despite some hiccups in the flow, it was a rich discussion, and J, Kr & H were able to share personal experiences, the struggles they faced organizing for climate justice, and their community wins.
We ended at 9, but the kids were still awake when I got home so I ditched the Bad Prosecutor finale to play a bit before lights out. I thought I’d be awake after the kids fell asleep to catch up, but the next thing I knew it was morning and Daniel was gleefully ripping a page out of Amy’s new book.
After I post this I’ll settle down to finally watch Jin Jeong kick ass in a robe. I already saw some spoilers, and the best one so far was that Kyungsoo got rid of his fried hair… and he now has Josh’s exact haircut.
Photo: How to Look At Art by Linda Barry
