Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

I heard from my friend in Australia.  We were in graduate school together, and still write emails to each other around the new year.  And I realized I was reading a book set in Australia, by a writer from down under:  "Crimson Lake", by Carolyn Fox.  The mystery is totally engaging, about two criminals who join forces when they get out of prison to investigate a missing person.  They also investigate each other's crime, which turns out to be not what the police have assumed.  The man, Ted, has escaped Sydney and come to an isolated small town to get away from persecution, because there was not enough evidence to charge him.  But the public is relentless in pursing him, feeling he got away with an attack on a child.  Amanda has served eight years in prison for stabbing a schoolmate, and though she considers herself guilty, Ted discovers a coverup.  There is lots of humor in the book, and Ted's rescue of a mother goose and six goslings is delightful.  I enjoy the humor of Australians, and remember fondly when I worked beside the only other female teacher at a high school in Fiji, eons ago.  I'm predisposed, you might say, to liking Australians.

Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

I'm heading for the dentist.  Gee, it's amazing how childish we feel when we need the dentist.  I feel like I just want to get out of there alive.  Ridiculous.  I'm doing a few errands after and then having lunch with my bud who is going crazy because of her daughter's upcoming wedding.  She told me it's silly, because her daughter and fiance are doing everything, and I promptly replied that means nothing.  The frenzy froths itself up into peaks just because of the excess of joy and anticipation and momentousness.  We all go crazy.  I'm pretty excited myself, and I have no responsibilities except housing a couple of relatives for couple of days.  And I worried myself nuts until I discovered a dress in my closet I'd bought a year ago when the store was closing, and decided it was perfect (or as near as it needed to be) and now I've bought new shoes, found an old evening bag from my older daughter's wedding decades ago, and draped a scarf and two jackets around the dress to be decided which one as the weather dictates.  And nobody cares what I look like.  Well, evidently, I do.  Wedding fever, ah, who DOESN'T succumb?!

Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

We watched the Golden Globes last night.  I don't put any stock by their nominees or winners, but the dresses are worth oogling over.  We were blotto, because in one weekend my husband had had three concerts, and we'd discovered our mail had been stolen and in it were checks that somehow got cashed, even the one addressed to our mortgage bank, so we've been canceling cards, getting a new checking account and basically ripping up and starting over.  So a little mindless entertainment was right up our alley.  I adore Cuaron and Roma, so that was nice, and I was grateful for every globe that didn't go to A Star is Born.  I loved the surprise of Rami Malek and Bohemian Rhapsody, and Sandra Oh.  I don't watch any television, so I was fine with all that.  But Jeff Bridges' rambling monologue was a highlight for me.  I even thought I followed his line of thought, though I admit that's scary.  He's so sixties in a way I miss, because he believes in LOVE, and so do I.  Anyway, today I babysat as the nanny was stuck in a snowstorm, SO SHE SAYS, and I bought my grandson a big blue and yellow dump truck and he fiddled with it most of the morning.  I watched closely to make sure he didn't "crash", and moved emergency vehicles over when crashes occurred, to try to get him to see people get hurt in crashes.  Uh huh.

Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

We're getting a real rainstorm today.  Yesterday was hit and miss, but this is the real thing.  The rain is supposed to continue through Thursday, and hopefully it's snowing in the mountains, giving us a much needed snowpack.  My husband is singing in his big chorus this weekend:  Friday night, yesterday afternoon and today in the the afternoon.  Our younger son and daughter and daughter-in-law are going with me to see the concert.  It's Dovorak's "The Spector Bride", which I've never heard.  We'll be stuffed in like wet puppies in the hall; we'll be cosy, to say the least.  I can't overemphasize the importance of music in our family.  It bonds my husband and myself, as we both grew up in school and in my case church choirs.  I went to music camp every summer.  I sang to my children and they all sing and play instruments.  Our ten year old granddaughter sings in a Girl's Chorus and also all the time and everywhere she can, like her school talent show.  The two bungly toddlers regale us with versions of Wheels on the Bus, Old MacDonald, Twinkle, Kookaburra, Buffalo Gals, Freight Train and the younger's current favorite, The Muffin Man.  Music lifts our spirits and speaks feelings we cannot express any other way.  I believe music and art made us human.

Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

It is a dark and stormy day, but here we all appreciate rain.  Our sometime next door neighbors have pushed us yet again to have a tree trimmed that is impacting them, and though it is reasonable, they expect us to do it the next day when they ask us.  So yesterday they had their tree guy come over and talk to us.  He seemed nice enough, but when we've tried to cooperate with trimming in the past, they pay $100 and we pay $1000.  They treat us like peons on an estate they own.  We always swear we won't get upset, and we always do.  She called two weeks before Christmas and I said I'd take care of it, but evidently I didn't stop my trip, grandchildren's birthdays and other events to GET RIGHT ON IT.  So they call their own guy.  He thinks we've agreed to pay the total costs for the tree trimming, and yet won't tell us what the cost will be.  Now we have to call someone else to get an estimate, and right in the middle of a trip of mine, a wedding, and a meeting etc.  Mi agenda, tu agenda.  Lots of deep breathing will be required, and my heart sinks whenever they call or knock on the door.  They always want us to do something.  In the past I have checked on their house for them, given keys when they got locked out, agreed to multiple requests to move large hot tubs across our property, give them the name of our gardeners, and in other ways, been a good neighbor.  But it is a one way street.  They clearly see us as an impediment.  The 10 years they lived elsewhere is beginning to be, in retrospect, quite lovely.  I long for their absence again.

Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

Today I ran around mailing packages, buying birthday gifts and a sparkly pair of shoes for my outfit for a friend's daughter's wedding.  I fell in love with the shoes, as they look great but are a brand known for ease of walking.  Then, after having lunch with my husband, I saw a matinee of "Vice", a terrific satire on Dick Cheney.  Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Sam Rockwell and Steve Carell are wonderful, and it has compassion for the man as well as anger.  My most challenging project this week has been to try to get a haircut.  My usual person is incommunicado, and after trying numbers suggested by my daughter and daughter-in-law, I gave up and walked back to the salon I'd frequented fifteen years ago and got myself an appointment for tomorrow.  My haircutter only works Sundays, and sometimes it's weeks before I can get a slot, and I decided after 15 years of following her from salon to salon, I deserved a easier situation.  I may regret it tomorrow, but right now I have a photo torn from a catalogue in hand to try to see how improved it is possible for me to be.  Low expectations is my motto.

Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

A new year!  I my case, with it comes a new grandchild, our forty fifth wedding anniversary and hopefully lots of connections with friends and family.  I'm looking forward to a trip to see a childhood friend, a celebration for the anniversary with the whole family, our son's fiftieth birthday, lake swimming, a trip with our granddaughter and other wonderful adventures.  I hope our government steadies itself and wise heads prevail.  I hope guns are controlled, people treated fairly and respectfully, and everyone has access to the health care and food and shelter they need.  I hope we all recognize our Buddha nature and act accordingly.  Let love and compassion rule our hearts and minds.