{thanksfully: laughing at our absolute worst}

WINTER CLOTHES

by Karla Kushkin

Under my hood I have a hat
And under that
My hair is flat.
     Under my coat
My sweater’s blue,
My sweater’s red.
I’m wearing two.
     My muffler muffles to my chin
And round my neck
And then tucks in.
     My gloves were knitted
By my aunts.
I’ve mittens too
And pants
And pants
And boots
And shoes
With socks inside.
     The boots are rubber, red and wide.
And when I walk
I must not fall
Because I can’t get up at all.

This morning, I walked by a mirror, and started to laugh, thinking of this poem.

It is about 39°F/4°C, and in my house, I am wearing: a long-sleeved mock turtleneck, a long-sleeved t-shirt. A short-sleeved t-shirt. A v-necked thermal. And a cardigan… and a pair of leggings underneath my heavy cotton pants …or, trousers, as they’re known here. And a blue corduroy hat.

Oh, yeah. All I’m lacking is mittens and wellies, which may seem a bit overdone for indoors.

This is not a good look. No, seriously. I wish you could see.

Today, I am really grateful for my sense of the absurd.

For some reason, in our family, most of us have it in spades. It’s how I knew my Mom was really sick – she couldn’t talk to me on the phone – and belly laugh – without getting really out of breath.

Though people rarely see it, Tech Boy is as daft as all of us – and was somewhat of an anomaly in his own family. My family is nutty, and spends time mimicking friends and strangers, laughing at the dumb things people do, and laughing at ourselves in various circumstances. There is no situation in which we simply sit down and weep in despair. We despair, for sure, but we tend to laugh while weeping. (I have been known to laugh at funerals – because while death isn’t amusing, there is sometimes a joyousness in its arrival. And maybe you don’t understand that – but it’s all right. You don’t have to, until you’ve seen someone you love suffer from a disease, and you rejoice when they are released. Life is a gift. So is death. That’s a HUGE topic, which I don’t mean to treat lightly, either, but think about it..). There seems to be nothing in this world which is safe from the theater of the absurd, from life itself.

It is for this grace of spirit – and for my ridiculous and homely, but warm, outfit, and the ability to laugh at it – that I am today so very grateful.