I Stand Corrected

Tapping gently against my forehead, I wondered……..and wondered. A ‘T’? What? The theme for January ~ Realism ~ does not have a ’t’ in it. So I went back to this year's beginning. On that first day of this year, my post read: REALISTISM instead of REALISM. Wow! At least the title ‘Crystal Clear?’ was accurate. But then you, my readers, were aware of that mispelling. Right? Should I be embarrassed, angry with myself, or laughing and laughing…. and laughing. On January 1st, I completely misspelled ‘realism’ and have only noticed it tonight!

Not because I can’t spell, but that’s what happens when I have too many words in swirling in my writer’s mind. That said, it seems my inner editor hadn’t shown up yet. I’ll have to speak with her about her all too frequent absences.

“Full minds create chaos.”

~ Author: David W. Jones

Just January?

Suspicions of nefarious activity seem to creep into my thoughts on a far too regular basis. Especially if I listen to radio or TV ‘breaking news’ too long or too often or, conversely, if I am alone with my own thoughts too long! Then I am like my cat ~ skittish and sure that there is a giant mouse around each and every corner. Sound paranoid? Some kind of psycho thing going on? Or is it just January and it’s really cabin fever creeping in. (Shhh….Covid weirding out?) Poor cat hasn’t been outside since late autumn. While I’ve been inside for only a paltry two days ~ and that’s bit of a fib. (Too chatteringly cold!) I did step outside to check the mail two days ago. I don’t have the luxury of curling up and sleeping ~ a sort of semi-hibernation ~ until it’s time for the food dispenser (that would be me) to be activated. 

“Lots of people go mad in January. Not as many as in May, of course. 

Nor June. But January is your third most common month for madness.”

~ Karen Joy Fowler, Sarah Canary

It's an Inside Job

Inside jobs with routines and boxes, 

everyone in lock step

schedules and tasks 

get to work

take your breaks

finish your work

home and breathe.

          ~~~~~

Retirement softens the edges

waltz or quick step,

breathe low and slow,

routine and boxes to check

if I feel like it.

wake up, sit up

time is curious

clock is lonely

take my breaks whenever…….

“Today was good.

Today was fun.

Tomorrow is another one.

~ Dr. Seuss

Chapter Two, Episode Sixty-Six - Signs of Spring - Situationally Theirs

Signs of Spring

Leaving behind her husband had been more difficult than Emelina had expected. She had just returned from being with her husband for two weeks. Being positive for Covid19 had been almost a blessing in disguise. It was a secret guilt that Emelina tucked away. The two of them had ordered their food in, taken early morning walks and snuggled in for the rest of each day. Emelina was glad to be back, not happy with having to leave Jeremy, but he did have to return to work at the hospital. “Em, it’s okay. We doctors are in short enough supply as it is, not to mention nurses, respiratory therapists, anyone that works in that crazy place. I’ll be extra careful. Don’t cry. We’ll talk every day.” 

~~~~~ 

“Thank heavens the snow is gone….Oh, look Dez! The pussy willows are out. Aren’t they so soft and lovely? Jeremy will love to see them.” Her face, so happy and expressive one minute, was wiped clean except for tell-tale trickles of mascara. “Em, he really will be all right. The pussy willows are lovely and you‘ll tell him all about them tonight. Did you bring your cell phone with you. You could take a photo and sent it to him?” 

“Oh heavens, I’m acting like a teenager. I know he’ll be okay. I just miss him so much. But what about you? How are you? Samuel tells me you’ve got quite a system to recover any Christmas decorations from the old garage that will be demolished soon.” She brightened just by asking Dez about the work she had been doing. “Did you find anything that was particularly antique-like?” Dez had taken more than just the one day off the previous week. Now she was back, but taking things much more slowly and steadily. “I’m afraid it’s been kind of disappointing, Em. None of the items on the list of things Digby gave me were in the ones we found. Oh, there are one or two that I was able to clean up and use next year. “ Slowing to avoid a puddle crusted with gray snow, they supported each other. Dez had regained her balance and strength, but was still cautious. “That really is too bad. I was hoping to have some kind of history revealed. Something that wasn’t just land values or how many apple trees we have. A little bit of the Christmas magic that we had in our house when we were kids, but part of this estate.” Emelina hesitated. “Have you seen or heard Sarah lately? Digby said that she might know some of the history.” Dez stopped and stared at her sister. “Sarah? Really? The little ghost? No, I haven’t seen or heard her for a long time. She’s been so quiet I had forgotten all about her. Now that you mention her, I’ve even almost stopped believing that this old place has a ghost.” The sisters laughed out loud as they continued on their walk around the track. “When the winter rains come, and especially if it snows, she tends to disappear. I don’t remember if she did last year. If we can get her to come out……” Emelina let her words drift away. “I’ll have to come back with clippers to get a little pussy willow twig for the kitchen table.”

~~~~~ 

The remainder of their walk was quiet. An occasional mention of the weather. Their great good fortune of living on the Island while the rest of the country was buried under cold and snow. The Island’s little bit of snowy weather had been an inconvenience. Beautiful, but inconvenient. They breathed a sigh of relief. “Should we feel guilty, Em?” Her sister looked amused. “Guilty? About what? That January on the Island has pussy willows peeping out at us and snowdrops blooming shyly at their base? We could try I suppose, but I don’t feel like it today.” Dez grinned. They climbed the few steps to the back door. A deep breath told them that it was Cook’s baking day ~ but then every day seemed to be Cook’s baking day “Let’s see what she has for us today.” 

“If winter comes can spring be far behind?” 

~ Percy Bysshee Shelley, Ode to the West Wind

Snow Shovels and Satisfaction

Alternatives are never easy when snow has fallen. The porch and deck are my responsibility to keep clear and I’m not expecting any company. Do I bundle in gloves, scarf and toque? Or do I stay in the cosy warmth of my home? There is not much logic to go on here. So I asked a couple of friends. Granted, they were imaginary friends. 

My adult self: “Don’t be crazy! Make a cup of tea, get a blanket and your book club book and ignore the snow!” 

Ok ~ that sounded good. But my child self was absolutely jumping up and down. All right ~ what are you all excited about?

My child self: “But its snow! And it’s not even heavy wet snow. Light and fluffy and not real deep ~ well kind of. Please. Please. Please.”

So I resigned myself to getting my supper in the oven and making tea later. Bundled in gloves, scarf and toque, boots on the three of us went out in the snow. The snow so light that it barely made the shovel heavier. I could have swept everything clear. More fun to shovel though. The scrape of the shovel against the wood and on the cement sidewalk one of the sounds of winter. Tossing clouds of light white over the railing and onto the ground a beautiful testament to my rhythmic movements.

My nose and cheeks cold, dusk was settling and the promise of a good hot cuppa and supper beckoned. 

“No one is ever satisfied where he is….

Only the children know what they’re looking for….”

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Movie Review: Don't Look Up - Directed by Adam McKay

Everyday it gets a little closer but no one listened to its reality.  A global catastrophic event on the horizon. From a science lab at Michigan State, a doctoral student, Kate Dibialsky played by Jennifer Lawrence, discovered a gigantic comet on a trajectory towards Earth. She called her professor, Dr Randall Mindy who gathered his students together to go over the data. The data was frightening and correct. The U.S. President Orlean, played by Meryl Streep, is a caricature of any leader of the free world who understands more about polling numbers than the data of scientists. Her rebuff of the scientific data is not just frustrating but to Kate Dibialsky, infuriating. Enter Peter Isherwell, played by Mark Rylance, who has the money, power and vision to mine the comet for its riches rather than protect Earth.

I read several reviews and this movie was not a favourite of many. I disagreed and found its message quite powerful. The camera pans through our world of abundance and nonchalance, politics and greed, underscoring our maladjusted priorities. The security of family and honest relationships are buried in bling, glitz and even graffiti; television programming, money and technology. How there really are distant and unknowable threats to our existence. We are, in short, an arrogant and selfish species, yet we still have the potential to readjust our priorities. All the things we have are not bad in and of themselves, it is only in how we use them. 

This movie isn’t all doom and gloom. It is classified as comedic and is very satiric. This was an area that I found troubling as I don’t always catch satire. The only part I laughed out loud about was the very end. Sorry, no spoiler alert.

“We really did have everything, didn’t we?”

~ Dr. Randall Mindy, Don’t Look Up

Directed by: Adam McKay

Writing Credits:

Adam McKay (screenplay by)

Adam McKay (story by) &

David Sirota (story by)

Partial Cast: 

Leonardo DiCaprio - Dr. Randall Mindy

Jennifer Lawrence - Kate Dibiasky

Meryl Streep - President Orlean

Cate Blanchett - Brie Evantee

Rob Morgan - Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe

Jonah Hill - Jason Orlean

Mark Rylance - Peter Isherwell

Timothée Chalamet - Yule

Teddy's Housesitting Rescue

Teddy's Housesitting Rescue 

Rescuing his friend’s home, a handsome crystal jar, was all that Teddy wanted to do. Hidden behind woven cupboards doors, he could only hear all the Christmas goings on. He didn’t know that when it had been filled with his friends who only came out once a year. There were glittering Christmas globes, a little bell woven from grass and even a shiny Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer! A green garland wrapped around it, with more decorations hung from its branches. Now the beautiful jar sat empty. All the fun and sparkles gone into a box. When he heard the other decorations talking about ‘going into a dark box’ his fuzzy ears tingled. They didn’t seem to mind though. The old porcelain cat growled “I can finally get some good sleep. Getting hung up wherever she wants me ruins my nap.” The others were just silent, used to porcelain cat and his grumbling. The were ready to get put to bed. Teddy didn’t know what to do, afraid their shiny home would be put in a box and hidden away ~ empty and lonely. 

One day, his cupboard door opened, he was picked up and told “I think you’d really look good in that jar. I really don’t want to hide it away in some closet, down the basement or out in the cold!” Teddy’s black thread nose twitched and he could hardly believe his soft ears. Then he was put inside the big jar, sitting on something soft and warm. “You fit perfectly!” Teddy was happy. He could safely take care of his friend’s home and watch the comings and goings of……..he didn’t know what to call them so he just called them his new friends. 

“A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children 

is not a good children’s story in the slightest.”

~ C.S.Lewis