The Green Knight

The majority of U.S. states (35) currently criminalize HIV/AIDS exposure. For many reasons, this is appalling! 

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Yesterday’s weather was horrid. We cancelled our dog walking. It was dark, foggy and wet, but it was mild and that was nice. It was truly a grizzly Winter day, and it was noisy due to the sound of the rain landing on my metal roof. I like that sound though. The day’s up-side was being so, so warm and cozy by the fire and with a blanket over me as I read my umpteenth detective novel once my studying was done.

I spent all morning studying. I learned signs for many animals, and several are amusing. The ASL sign for monkey is exactly as you might think—using both hands to ‘scratch’ under your arms; the sign for ‘giraffe’ is about its long neck, the sign for snake is, unsurprisingly, all about fingers as fangs.

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I love all things Indian. I spent a year travelling around the wonderful country over three visits. I chose to go not too long after Steve left me. Everyone was so sad for me; I triggered frowns on every approaching face I knew. Then I thought: “I need to give everyone something else to talk about and to think about when they see me.” And I decided to go to India. It was something I’d long wanted to do, but was scared to do.

I booked a trip with a Québecois company for three months, went early and stayed after. I was confident all would be wonderful, and it was. So, when I came home, I immediately went back for another three months. Then again, a year or two later. (And I only saw rain once.)

Last night I did something odd, largely because of Dev Patel (sqoon). I watched The Green Knight even though that genre of fantasy/fable is anathema to me. But Dev Patel … I’m in. And a fox as a co-star. In deeper. And it was okay, but pretty! It was like being 14 again, watching it, because at that age I loved every movie I could see, and I’m sure I would have liked this one. Even an (obnoxious) operatic soundtrack.

At nine, I wanted a couple of small pieces of wood for the fire, so I went outside to the shed to fetch it and it was almost warm. It felt warm after cold weather for so long. It felt so good! 

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I like the rhythm I’m in. I love studying (things that are interesting and rewarding). I have a feeling that’s how I got scholarships. Learning is the structure of my day: Study, do something, and repeat throughout the day, rest at night.

So many signs are going in and sticking in my aged brain, I can’t account for why there’s the odd one that I just cannot nail when I test myself. Even though I haven’t used the word, “algebra,” for decades, I want to learn it because it’s on the list. Once I get going, I’ll mix signing with fingerspelling and, basically, mime. They call it gesture, but I’m willing to go all the way to full-on charades when I’m completely mute.

I’m in level one of my course that consists of 13 units, each unit comprised of a vocabulary list, phrases to learn, ASL theory, comprehension quizzes, a reading assignment (from our two textbooks), and some sentences to sign. I’m in Unit 4. Yesterday, I got this assignment: I must have a half-hour signing session ( they provided many methods of fulfilling the assignment), and I have to write an essay about it. I’ll be using my Monday next session with Michelle to complete my session, so I wrote to tell her about it, asking her to help me plan a way for us to practice that’s within my capabilities. And I made some suggestions.

I got an email from my course telling me that I’m 4% of my way along their curriculum, and it excited me to know that I have something to do for a long, long time coming. I walk three hours a week with my friends, I go to the village to shop twice a week, in single; I am home alone and able to do whatever I want nearly all the time. Learning ASL is a great, great way to pass time. I have no deadline.

I’m definitely able to communicate better with close friends—about simple things at least. I can’t talk at length about anything, but I can participate. For depth, I have this blog and email. I sometimes tell correspondents that I’ll send them an email after the call, telling them things I wanted to share but were too difficult to speak.

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There’s no rain this morning, and the sky is bright. Today, I’ll be doing more studying and finishing my current novel, just like every other day of late.