Canicula…
Is the Spanish word for ‘
dog days’ of summer. You can literally feel it in the air. Muggy, hot, steamy, the sun is hazy and relenting. We just got a heat wave that was intense and a
crime wave that just give people another reason to stay inside. The streets aren’t as lively, the traffic is slower, even the tourists look a like they would rather be somewhere else.
We hit the dog days of this administration; with worthless meetings and a
hollow leader who is memorable for his
lack of table manners and personal space. We have a war going on in the
Middle East, a human
tragedy of Iraq and a threatening North Korea…but we are worried about
gay marriages. We are a lost people, still reliving the attacks of 9/11, unfocused and depressed. America, you have
PTSD. We’re like the Vietnam vets who still wear their vests full of patches and work at the convenience store; takes antidepressants and drinks, who never fulfilled our potential, who can snap at any moment.
Canicula… I’ve entered my own personal dog days. I am so tired, I have a full load of summer classes, just started a new job at the children’s hospital working as a
psychometrician. I am ending my other job really, really soon. So, 40 hrs a week of work and 3 grad courses, with a 2 weeks break in august. I sometimes think I am too old for this, working really hard, hardly having any free time. Then my girlfriend reminds me what it’s all about. I will say she is my saving grace. Always there to give me a kick in the pants! Thankfully, we do have some fun together. We had a nice time on the 4th of July—DC is a great place for the holiday, saw the
fireworks with our friends at the national mall. My GF’s birthday was a week ago and we spent it at
Rehoboth Beach, a cute little beach town in Delaware. It has an old fashioned boardwalk, nice little boutiques and lots and lots of gays and lesbians. Not bad for Delaware! Anyway, it was nice to get away and spend it with my girl.
Canicula… I recently learned that my
ex-girlfriend is getting married, not a
Massachusetts kind of marriage but a run of a mill
heterosexual one. My first reaction wasn’t one really. I was kind of ambivalent about it. Then I started to think about it... I should have stayed ambivalent. I won’t get too personal (I do have homework to do) but I was reminded about this essay I read by
Carla Trujillo, called interestingly enough “
till men do us part”. I remember reading this during the relationship with my ex and having a feeling of foreshadowing. I remember reading the last paragraph
“ It’s been over a year since I wrote that letter to Becky. I haven’t heard a word from her. I don’t know if she got married and had the baby she always dreamed of. I don’t know if her father and her sweet grandma are still with us. I don’t know what her nephew is learning in school or what’s happening with her sister and brother. I don’t know anything anymore about Becky or her family I once adopted as mine. I’ve accepted the fact that Becky does not want me in her life. What’s really hard to accept is why.”
I closed the book and felt a chill down my spine.
