Saturday

Another dreary, rainy day here in Kansas City. The cats and I are stationed by the front window, getting as much indirect, filtered daylight as possible. There is not much going on outside. Since it's raining off and on, the construction crew across the street isn't working. There is very little pedestrian traffic up and down the street--only the occasional car going either north or south with a little swoosh.

I meant to say that the "real" Busy Bee Cafe, the inspiration for the errant half-baked and eventually aborted plot line of my latest novel, is undergoing a refurbishment. The building front is getting new trendy floor to ceiling windows that are very clean and very modern, even set as they are in the old brick wall. Same treatment with the front door at the corner of the building. Not sure what's going on upstairs. All I know about the upstairs is that there are windows. It always looked to me like a couple of apartments might have been up there at one time.  The big sign on the side of the building is still there. Perhaps they mean to leave it. I guess it is to be a bar/restaurant/music-venue, like other places up and down the street. I suppose reality is actually being altered there, but in the same way that we are time traveling to the future--slowly and with great pain and anguish.
At any rate, I once thought if there were apartments up there, I would like to live in one of them--but not if there is going to a bar with live music downstairs. That's a little too much reality for me.

Not to complain, although I do reserve the right to whine and pule, my neck is still sore. It still hurts when I turn my head to the left too far. When driving, for example, I can look out the driver's side window, but I can't really look over my left shoulder without wincing. I've been to the chiropractor, which was no help, and a masseuse (same) and I've been to the acupuncturist twice now. My third appointment is this Wednesday. He seems to be doing some good. My neck is improving incrementally. It's expensive and not covered by insurance. However, not to complain as I'm sure there is a Republican somewhere who is confident that this is all somehow my own fault. I'm not arguing the point.

My acupuncture guy is also into other things. He mentioned that he does past-life regressions. I can't say that I believe in that, but I confess it sounds like fun. He just mentioned it, not as a course of treatment for my neck, but he told me sometimes revealing a past life can cure maladies in this life.

Due to the chronically sore neck, I'm giving up most of my guitar playing. I discovered that the position(s) I get myself into while playing are aggravating the situation. Playing music turns out to be a sort of asymmetric endeavor on more than one level.  I told the guys in the jazz band I'm going to have to give it up. I hate to do that, but I also hate being in pain much of the day, so there you have it.

I am alone by the window. The cats left unceremoniously and covertly, in the same way that they arrived. They are stress-free.