Wool and Spice

We spent last evening and today watching the coverage of Ted Kennedy’s funeral. There has been a Kennedy at the center of American politics all my life. It’s hard to imagine how different Washington will be now. I have to wonder how his political acumen would have impacted the health care debate had he been able to participate.

I was also struck by how many people told of how Ted Kennedy found time to reach out to them in times of personal crises and sorrows; how he managed to make friends across the aisle; how they will miss his laughter and sense of humor. If you ignored all the rest of his extraordinary life, those tributes to his personal relationships alone would be a remarkable thing.

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The second week of my temp assignment went better, at least as far as getting up in the morning and figuring out which end was up.  It already seems incredibly busy, but we’ve been told this is the quiet before the storm.

We can wear jeans to work every day which is a first for me.  I own one pair of decent jeans so I’m still “dressing up” (khakis or twill).  And I’m trying to figure out why it’s OK to wear flip flops and graphic T-shirts, but not running shoes.

I’m fortunate to have landed in a department/company that treats us as something other than low-paid drudges. We’re included in staff meetings and given privileges that I didn’t expect. Of course we’re still making half the rate that these jobs should pay, but given the employment market companies don’t have to be generous to attract quality these days. One of my fellow temps has a masters’ degree and is happy to have the work.

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Even though the morning routine is getting easier, I’m still figuring out how to allocate my limited free time.  I’m organizing a day of service this fall, recruiting volunteers to rehab the home of an elderly couple through a partnership with a local organization. Since I’ve never done this before it’s sort of a seat-of-the-pants effort and I’m hopeful we can pull it off without too many screw-ups. We visited the home this week and there are some major repairs to be made. While I have enough bodies signed up, I’m still looking for skilled labor since we need a carpenter, electrician and plumber to handle the major stuff. I’ll hit the unions up this week and see if someone doesn’t want to donate their time. It helps that this is co-sponsored by the local Democratic organization.

So just because I didn’t have enough on my plate, I also got the bright idea to have a fall fiber picnic. I rented a picnic shelter today and will send out an invitation this week to our knitting group. It really should be easy to pull together because everybody will bring a dish to share; the rest is just details.

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Fall is in the air.  The temps tonight will be in the 50’s. I’m sitting here in shorts and a shawl. Fashioned challenged, I know. We’ve had the house open all day when usually August means suffering through the dog days. The cooler temps make me want to pull out the winter knitting — sweaters instead of lace. Maybe this week.

Tags: Kennedy, Life, work