She Stutters

The darkness of the day, and the wetness of everything after overnight rain made me move slowly in the morning. I fed the brood and lit a morning fire, and after posting and some doomscrolling, Her Highness and I went for our morning walk in the 707 Park.

The wood was calling, but I was not keen to work outside. I thought I’d leave the physical work to the afternoon when things might have dried out a bit and it might be brighter, but when the sun came out and I choose to do SPACE work instead. I made videos for my colleagues to use for promoting our Oct. 17^th event. I’m made extremely uncomfortable if I watch my videos, but they are done and it’s up to my talented comrades to decide whether to use them.

I went to renew my house insurance, and I was hugely relieved to see that the increase in my premium was acceptable. I have never ever made a claim on either my car or my house insurance, and I get no break for that and it pisses me off. 

We went for our afternoon walk at Rollo Park on the way home. The sky had cleared and it was bright and sunny, so when we got home, I enjoyed a lovely soak in the spa before dinner time. Sadly, I have finished watching season sixteen of The Great British Baking Show. I watched it over three evenings and, as always, absolutely loved it. I’ve watched every season, but this time was the most moving because there was a lovely, wonderful woman on the show from Ukraine.  And she stuttered!

It’s the contestants who make the show. The hosts are tiresome, the judges are essential and Prue is a delight, but it’s the contestants who make the show so moving and engaging. I love them all. They are so talented and brave. For me, it’s perfect television.

Doug, a long-time friend of Steve and me, is coming to visit on Sunday and Monday. Sunday is our Apple Fair day, so if he’s. here in time to go, that’ll be something we can do. My plan, as per my new way of reducing stress and seizures, is to eat out and/or get pizza and bring it home to eat.

It’s a bright sunny day today. My goal is to load as much of the freshly bucked wood into one of my woodsheds. I’m looking forward to doing the work, and I may split some of the rounds and cancel my order for a person to come to split the wood.

Elsinor: Can't Wait to See It

 

Elsinor is another movie that I’m very keen to see. In it, Andrew Scott plays Ian Charleson, the star of Chariots of Fire, in this dramatization of Charleston’s historic performance as Hamlet at England’s National Theatre, right after receiving a devastating diagnosis of AIDS. And bonus: Olivia Coleman.

•

Time got away from me yesterday morning. I was rushed off my feet by unexpected things. David called and we fell into a long chat about concerns he was carrying, and then Steve called to vent about having to wait for seven hours in the emergency ward of an LA hospital. His landlord, who’s ninety-three, fell and Steve looked after him until they returned home and his landlord was settled in his bed,

The morning began as most every day does, with posting, doomscrolling through newsfeeds, doing dishes and putting things away, then came the calls. Once they were done, I took Sheba for our morning walk which was long overdue. And then, when I came home eager for some quiet time, I remembered that I had to pick up Eoin at the automotive shop where he was leaving his car for repairs, to drive him home. Off we went!

When we got back home, it was lunchtime. And then I had a brief rest during which I could read before Jacob and Grayson arrived to fall the tree I wanted down. I’m so glad I’s down. It was leaning, and with it gone, my backyard gets more sun, especially in Winter when the sun is low in the sky.

Before the tree came down.

Jacob, in the orange safety jacket, on his way up the tree.

Jacob has removed all the branches and felled the top portion
of the tree. Grayson was on the ground cleaning up the branches.

The end result. I'll start stacking the little pieces today.

I walked Sheba at 15:00 while the team was bucking the fallen tree, and soon after that, it was dinner time, and I was glad to be back to my quiet and uneventful life again. When dinner time came, we were all very happy to eat and bring our day to an end on soft furniture. 

•

When I opened the back door to escort Sheba to the gate which I opened for her so she could cruise the hood at 5:00, I was happy to feel rain on my head. But tomorrow begins a week without precipitation, so my watering may not yet be over for the season. The good weather will give me time to load the smaller pieces of bucked wood into a woodshed.

Today, though, will be an indoor day. I shall read more of John of John, and I shall also practice my bit for SPACE that happens in Vancouver on the 17^th of Ocotober.

Art: Power and Escape

I don’t like the white lines on my large office window. They are particularly ugly when the sun hits them, but the Audubon website says this is the thing to do, and I do not want to be responsible for any more bird deaths at Pinecone Park. Each one breaks my heart. They are such beautiful, innocent little wonders.

I had considered using wood moulding to break the large window into smaller ones, but it was going to be massively expensive because I’d have to commission it. I have hung curtains of plastic strips over the studio windows, because I don’t do anything in there.

Doing that window was my big accomplishment of the day. Her Highness and I have a routine now, a short morning walk in the 707, and Elder Cedar in the afternoon. Her presence, her behavioural habits, everything means more to me now. Longevity is not going to be the story with my soul mate.

I’m not going to water today as it’s supposed to rain tomorrow. I’m reading more as my watering duties wane, and sometimes H.H. and I walk three times to fill our days. I’m reading John of John. Douglas Stuart is a favourite. His protagonists are gay, and I think that’s part of why I like Mr. Stuart’s writing.

But what I love, what makes me want to re-read again after a few years pass, are the characters and their world. The novel is set on Harris Island, off the coast of Scotland. All his novels involve people who are struggling. I recently told someone that I was reading John of John and added that it was by the guy who wrote Shuggie Bain. She said she hated Shuggie Bain because it was too crude and bleak. 

Yea, it is bleak. But it’s just a story. I hate war, but art about war can be illuminating. It’s the art that holds your soul while your brain absorbs the message. When I was in Chicago, I saw a room with several old oil drums clustered in an otherwise empty room, and the room was dark.

I went in and saw that all the tins were full of water with a thin skin of oil on top, and when I got right up close, I could see words, backwards, on the surface. It made me look up, and that’s where I read about a foreign vessel that dumped waste oil drums full of toxic chemicals that leached into the water supple of local people and animals. This happened in Africa. It was one of the most moving art pieces I’ve ever seen. The story sickened me; no one was taking responsibility. But the form of expression thrilled me. Catching my eye in oil on water to teach me a story, in so seductive a manner, that needed to be known, has stayed with me as a favourite art piece.

Back to Douglas Stuart. When I open a book, I am giving the author access to my imagination, heart, and soul. I’m wide open for anything, if the story is well told. 

This is NOT bullshit: I picked up a novel by a Scottish writer, but I can’t remember his name, who wrote in a brogue so thick, I could hardly read it. I really struggled. But something held me, regardless of my difficulty with the language, so I ploughed on. I read the entire novel. Not long after I finished the novel, I ran into someone and we got to talking. And after I told her something, she asked me if I’d been to Scotland.

I didn’t do it intentionally, and that’s my point. I got deeply drawn into that book. That’s what I love about books and good writers. I’m drawn in from the get-go, and then I never want it to end. It’s a place to go every day, when I read. And I think that’s why I can’t read two books at once.

I want to have one world to escape to at a time. And although, yes, Shuggie Bain was hardcore reading, it’s an incredible group of people 

•

It was cold in the house this morning. I rushed to light the fire and make the house comfortable for the day. My daily chore has changed from watering the garden beds to lighting a fire. It may rain tonight and tomorrow. I shall continue putting white lines on the suicide windows, and I’ll read and we’ll walk. Nothing changes.