My understanding of wild nature is pathetic. I mistakenly taught Klara to refer to the town’s famous geese as ducks, and now everybody on the playground and at the park gives me dirty looks.

Rauner doesn’t excite his base. From a Republican point of view, he failed on every count. He made Illinois a sanctuary state. He did nothing about the budget. He’s been completely knee-capped by Madigan, the state tax is back up. He’s been flailing for over a year.

The only way he wins is if Dem voters simply don’t show up for Pritzker. Which is possible because it’s hard to get excited about Pritzker. In short, it’s the Dems’ election to lose. But they tend to be very good at losing unlosable elections and winning the unwinnable ones.

N has a list of all the repairs his car has had and all the repairs my car has had since we bought them in a computer file. I married an alien creature.

People always remark on how different we are and wonder if we have anything in common. “You are so sociable and gregarious,” they say, “and he’s. . . the polar opposite.” This goes to show that a public persona is not reality because at heart I’m a deeply unsociable misanthrope. But I love N because when he opens his mouth, I never know what he’s going to say. He’s very profound, and I can’t stand superficial people.

I know I’m middle-aged because I now have appointments. Many appointments. Endless appointments. I even have an appointment book for all my appointments. I now know that youth is the time when you have so few appointments that you can remember them without writing them down.

Periodontist, pediatrician, banker, car dealership, bodywork shop, another car dealership, laprascopic surgeon, HR, tax person at work, hairdresser, pedicurist, MRI, union organizer, analyst – and that’s all just since the beginning of the month and non-work related. What’s next, a gerontologist and retirement specialist?