More thoughts in the time of COVID-19
We had nice, gentle rain which cleared off all the yellow pollen. But three days without rain and it is all over everything again. Still, the worst of the evergreen fertile time seems to be past and the catalpa is leafing out but without blooming. The butterfly-hummer plants I set out all seem to be doing well. The area under Mikayla’s cherry tree is scattered with new trees which is very unusual for that tree. It has never happened before that I can remember. There are oddles of evergreen starts everywhere you look.
The trees are really dedicated this year. Are they trying to tell us something? Maybe just that nothing lasts forever? Or that the times, they are a-changin’?
Last sunday we had snow … some flakes, but mostly what we call “corn” snow, small ball snow. There has been snow this late in the season in the past. One year (I can’t recall the date) there was snow on the 4th of July. And another year there was a freezing rain storm, with strong winds, in August.
Next? An Australian Christmas ?!
By the way, did you know that pairing of a question mark with an exclamation mark is called an interrobang?
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Self-knowledge which has been creeping up on me slowly came clear last friday. I can no longer do a five, or at the very most six, hour work stretch. I was out running errands from 0930 until about 1400 without a break and after unloading the groceries etc. at home I was more than ready for a nap.
I am still basically healthy and able to do most of the things I have always done … but not for the same stretches of time or at the same pace.
Oh well …
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Saturday was a day of revelation … things worthy of thought.
First came from a book … surprised? I finished reading “Hag Seed” by Margaret Atwood. Yup. THE Margaret Atwood of “The Handmaid’s Tale”. But this time she was reimagining Shakespeare. Reimagining “The Tempest” to be exact. The thing that caught my attention was the imagining, by the director in the book, of Prospero’s cloak. It was to be composed of stuffed, furry toys from which the stuffing had been removed so what was left were fake animal pelts complete with google eyes, fangs, and claws.
To those of you who know little or nothing of opera, especially modern opera, that will mean nothing. And since I have yet to learn how to add photos to this blog, I can’t show you the costume which immediately came to mind. It was Akhnaten’s regal outfit from the Met’s production of the Philip Glass opera. If you can find it on the net, look at the hem area and the top of the sleeves … and then we can talk.
Also on saturday I was able to watch another opera … a 2008 production of “Thaïs” with Renee Fleming. In that opera a celibate monk sets out to save a sinful Priestess of the Goddess of Love. That plot line triggered thoughts of love … particularly romantic love … and what it means to be in love, to make love, and to love.
How would you explain the differences?
P.S. In “Thaïs” the monk ends up sexually desiring the Priestess who has entered a convent to die. Sort of like a Shakspeare finale … Hamlet comes to mind.
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Was at a “lockdown” meeting of the Landowners’ Association last evening. We were all in masks (which we had to pull down when we talked since we were outdoors and six feet plus apart).
Main topic of discussion is one which has been under discussion (and causing problems) since I’ve lived here. The original subdividers used a local agricultural reservoir as a selling point but didn’t include access to it for recreation as part of the purchase deeds. Purchasers have just assumed they have that right to access ever since in spite of the fact that the area is private property. In addition the area has been used by locals from all over the south county as a picnic spot and for fishing, swimming, and boating as well. It’s a real pain in the tush. Always has been, but it is getting worse.
Last evening the group who owns the land under the reservoir (the Siskiyou Land Trust) came to the Hammond Landowners’ Association asking help in controlling parking on their land for use by those “trespassing”. A lot was said (which I have to pound into meeting minutes later today) including the allowed usage of the land by whom and responsibilities of the Land Trust for oversight and posting. Final decision? As soon as the Land Trust is clear on their position, the Landowners’ Association will consider our involvement.
This is complicated by the fact that the original subdividers also failed to make a landowners’ association mandatory so the current association has limited powers. As the number of residents grows, and the urban mindset takes hold wanting the amenities of city life, the call for more services is rising.
So … does the current association step in and help solve the immediate problem, or is energy spent on forming a Community Services District?
I will be working on a position statement for myself which I hope to have ready to present to the others on the Landowners’ Association Board in a week or so.
Too bad there isn’t anything to fill my lonely days.
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Day 89 … 114 thousand dead in the US. Masks and distancing being questioned, but still very important.
Two thoughts to close …
The saddest words in the English language are “If only …”
And …
There are paths we wish we never traveled; decisions we wish we never took; actions we wrestle to tear out of our memory, rip out of our hearts with agony and remorse.
But life has meaning; life is good – not a moment of it can exist without a spark of truth throbbing somewhere within… including that moment you so regret.
So … ‘til next week …