Now I Understand
By Linda Gregg
Something was pouring out. Filling the field
and making it vacant. A wind blowing them
sideways as they moved forward. The crying
as before. Suddenly I understood why they left
the empty bowls on the table, in the empty hut
overlooking the sea. And knew the meaning
of the heron breaking branches, spreading
his wings in order to rise up out of the dark
woods into the night sky. I understood about
the lovers and the river in January.
Heard the crying out as a battlement,
of greatness, and then the dying began.
The height of passion. Saw the breaking
of the moon and the shattering of the sun.
Believed in the miracle because of the half heard
and the other half seen. How they ranged
and how they fed. Let loose their cries.
One could call it the agony in the garden,
or the paradise, depending on whether
the joy was at the beginning, or after.
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Was up late Thursday night with stressed out children and spent most of Friday trying to keep my eyes open properly (helped by too much chocolate, brought back by the kids and my in-laws from Hershey, helped, though will NOT help me get into dresses next month). Mother took older son to get his suit tailored while younger son had school open house and met his teacher for next year (the teacher his best friend had for fourth grade last year -- none of the fifth grade teachers from last year are teaching fifth grade this year, after two years in moldy portables they all refused, though the really good math teacher is teaching fifth grade math). Son's teacher is young, seems quite enthusiastic, and if she got along with his extremely hyper friend then I imagine they will do well together. After that, younger son was supposed to have a violin lesson at one, but the teacher had forgotten to put it on her schedule and was having an emergency session with a student she was tutoring for an audition for the county youth orchestra; she invited us to stay and listen, because this girl was really good, and then offered younger son a free lesson at 2:30 if we could come back, which we did.
Meanwhile I came home and wrote a review of "And the Children Shall Lead", whose sole virtue is that scene in the turbolift where Kirk cries and Spock gives him a comfort wank, err, professes true love...that is, you know, the scene where Kirk wails, "Spock! I'm losing my ability to act!" and Spock murmurs, "Jim. You never had any." Anyway, I talked about it in the review. *veg* Meanwhile mother had returned with older son and taken him back to her house, where father tried to talk him into going to the pool with him, but son had remembered that he had social studies as well as math homework from the summer that had to be finished for the first day of school, and on top of being upset about Granny was upset about feeling pressured to go to the pool when he knew he had work to do, so I took him home where he was actually happy to be doing math and left younger son with parents who took him to the pool. Then
1. Who do you live with? Husband, two children, two cats.
2. Do you like who you live with or do you want change? Like them all very much. Occasionally wish for a little more space.
3. Describe the ideal roommate: Fantastic conversationalist when I'm in the mood for conversation, perfect at reading moods and realizing when I want to be left alone, loves cleaning and spontaneously cleans up without interfering with any of my stuff I don't want touched.
4. How much sleep did you get last night? Six, seven hours maybe?
5. Where would you love to play hide-and-seek? Scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef.
1. What book or books were special to you in your childhood? The big three in elementary school were Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia and Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising series. Later on it was Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, Richard Bach's Illusions and Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon.
2. What was particularly special or memorable about those books? In a sentence? *snorts* Most of my value system, my theology and my interests were shaped by and reflected in those books.
3. Have you re-read any of them as an adult? All of them. Some aloud to my children.
4. If so, were the books as good as you remembered them? The Fountainhead and Narnia have not held up as well as the others but they're still well worth reading.
5. What do you think about movies being made out of children's classics (like the Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of The Rings, etc.)? I don't ever think films are a definitive version of any books. That said, I fell in love with both LOTR and Harry Potter backwards, films-first, so I am all in favor of good film adaptations. I can't imagine anyone ever making A Wrinkle In Time in a way that would capture all the imaginative material in it, though -- it's a novel of ideas rather than a fantasy, and not very cinematic.
1. To Boromir: You're going to die. Shag Aragorn while you have the chance.
2. To Janeway: You're going to get home. Shag Chakotay while you have the chance.
3. To Kira: Damar's going to die. Shag him while you have the chance.
4. To Clark: Lana's so not worth this angst. Shag Lex while you have the chance.
5. To Duncan: You're going to live forever. Shag Methos as soon as you have the chance.
And gacked from
Cinnamon demonstrates the proper use for an empty children's shoe store bag. No sooner had we gotten it home and placed it on the floor than this happened.
Rosie demonstrates the proper use for an empty school supply box. No sooner had we gotten it home and placed it on the floor than...you get the idea.
Saturday is Fall Haircut Day. Younger son has been informed that while he may keep his hair long, he must get it trimmed so it's even across the bottom for the Bar Mitzvah -- he is not happy about this but it's so knotty at the bottom that it's hard to brush and impossible to make look good. I am going to try to negotiate to get the really good hummus at the Middle Eastern place right near where we get haircuts. Shall also look in jewelry store with lots of pretty Jewish designs but since I bought this Tree of Life to wear with the new black dress, shall not be buying any!
Thanks for the condolences about
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