We cleaned the refrigerator today, a somewhat daunting task. In a day or so, we will will attack the freezer side.

When I was a very little girl, before I could even remember, I started the habit of running my fingers along the satin on my blanket. My dad dubbed it “the feeler.” It is a habit that has stayed with me, and my mother said that were I to die before her, she would see to it that I was buried with a ribbon laced in my fingers.

I have an amethyst necklace of polished oblong stones that was a present from Der Bingle. I have found myself wearing it more and more often because I have discovered running my fingers over it is not unlike the sensation of the calming and relaxing “feeler.” After scrubbing the refrigerator free of spilled gunk, the amethyst was most appreciated.