Entries this day: Errands Reading The_kiss

Errands

6:41pm CST Wednesday 29 January 2003

Ran errands with Janette, including getting wire mesh to cover a hole in the attic where a squirrel has been visiting, using insulation to make a nest.

We were careful to not disturb the nest, which included little pink hairless *cute* squirrels.. like 4 of them about 3 inches long each. They made little not quite squeaking, not quite groaning noises when we were messing around with our new screen to cover their screen. The nest was between the outer slats of a vent and the screen behind it. Apparently the mom squirrel had chewed through the screen and collected insulation, then packed it back down between the screen and slats for a nest. The nest was apparently complete, considering it had little squirrels in it, so I trust that she won't need any more insulation from inside the attic.

So we blocked the hole and I hope the babies will be okay. They are sooo cute!

We also cleaned out a bunch of shit from the attic to throw away and some to give to Good Will. Wonderfully productive day.

Reading

9:13pm CST Wednesday 29 January 2003

After errands, Janette and I have been listening and reading aloud respectively Stranger in a Strange Land. 40 pages worth this evening. She has been preparing spinach quiche and chocolate chip cookies and ranch dressing and salad. Yummmm eeeee.

She's got to leave at 5am for Boise Idaho for a few days. She and Charity are installing decoration for another restaurant.

The kiss

11:07pm CST Wednesday 29 January 2003

Joel had to write an autobiographical story for a class.

He asked Jack to write it. Jack didn't know what to write so Joel was all, "it doesn't matter, just write anything as long as it's autobiographical."

So Jack wrote the story of the first time he kissed a boy. It's quite well written.

The summer before I started high school I was lucky enough to get to
leave home for the first signifigant period of time. I was going to a
"smart kid" camp in North Carolina. I spent the first month of the
summer bursting with apprehension and excitement to meet new people
and to study subjects I never would have had the chance to explore in
my high school.

The group of boys I had attached myself to at the begining of camp
played ultimate frisbee every afternoon. I usually played too, but on
the fourth day of classes I decided to sit out with a spritely boy
named Jon who couldn't play because of his broken wrist. He always
watched the game from a stone bench just outside of the north
endzone. Jon was shorter than me, fair-skinned and quite skinny. When
we first met I found his preppy dress and private day school manner
irritating, but his urbane and sarcastic wit appealed to me much more
than the sophmoric simple-mindedness of my other companions. At
fourteen Jon was the first openly gay teen boy I had ever met. I was
at once intrigued by and wary of this strange new creature, like a
child who had discovered a hedgehog in the backyard. Almost as
interesting to me as his alien sexuality was jon's outspoken
intelligence. We had philosophy together and I was frequently
impressed with his grasp of the material and insightful, often
hilarious, comments.  Almost everything about him was outside the
realm of my previous experience, but I decided to try to change that.  

We were sitting on the bench facing each other and continuing the
discussion about Zeno's proofs from class that day, when I noticed
that I had been holding my breath for quite some time. I tried to take
a deep breath and could not; there was a thick anticipatory tension
tightening my entire body. I started to tell Jon that I needed to take
a walk when he leaned in and kissed me. It was short, soft, and
open-mouthed. I felt as though someone had replaced my guts with
sun-warmed honey. My physical reaction was obvious and immediate. At
first my mind did not question the rightness of what had just
happened. But then I was blasted by a wave of shame and
fear. Disgusted, I flung myself off the bench, landed on my face in
the dirt, jumped up and took off at a dead sprint.


Jon found me twenty minutes later, huddled and shaking in an empty
classroom, face streaked with dust and tears. He calmed me down enough
to try to kiss me again. This time I allowed the wonderful fever to
overwhelm me. Jon and I would be difficult to seperate for the rest of
camp.

I learned a lot that summer about myself and the world outside of my
hometown. But that particular incident and the subsequent
self-discovery has had the most lasting impact.

Joel had no idea what story was being composed.

Jack had no idea the assignment includes reading the story aloud in front of the class.

I asked, "is Joel gay?"

"He is now!"