Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

Ah.  The Impeachment process.  Will it be a catastrophe or dignified?  Are the President's actions actionable?  I've been continually appalled by his behavior and speech, which is definitely WRONG speech, but I keep being surprised by such things not being against the law or there is no law yet existing.  I have not a clue how this will all play out.  It is like a Christmas Pageant gone wrong.  So wrong.  The mess this president has created is indeed a tangled web of deceit and lies.  I hope some good witches sweep the government clean, or cleaner.  This in no way can be what the founders intended.  We are tripped up by the webs so that we cannot rise, but only fall again and again.  I want the country to be upright again.

Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

Veterans' Day, yesterday, had me remembering the service and loss of so many soldiers.  My best friend's husband was killed in Vietnam, and it changed the course of her life, as did the loss of my mother's pilot sweetheart during World War II.  Another friend's husband survived Vietnam, but he walked off the plane addicted to heroin, and she had to leave their five month old baby to seek treatment.  The army washed their hands of the problem.  Their marriage did not survive.  People remake their lives, but the ghost of loved ones lost is a true haunting.  You are forever altered, and the sadness is part of your ongoing life.  We need to make certain we are not careless with these men and women who serve our country, and only send them where we are morally obligated to defend with righteousness.  Our recent history is not honorable, and I mean honorable to these brave souls who protect us.

Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

I visited with one friend this morning, and we delighted in grocery shopping together, then settling down in her chairs to "catch up".  I was describing the sculptures in Kathy Butterly's show, and showed her some photos of a sculpture and painting I'd loved, and she was enchanted in the same way as I was.  We've seen so many art shows together, and remembered ones we'd both enjoyed.
Then this afternoon I took a walk with another friend, and we discussed the holidays, our families, and the movie "Harriet".  I feel restored by these encounters and ready to plunge into my busy week ahead.  Does anything rival a chat with a friend?  Not in my book!

Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

My husband and I went to see "Harriet" this morning at 11:45 am.  I was determined to see the film and I'm babysitting tonight, so we squeezed it in between breakfast at an egg shop and the hardware store and dropping our almost 3 year old grandson's toy back at his house, as his trucks are sacrosanct, even if he's the one who left it here.  I thought the film was beautiful and profound, and I wept pretty much all the way through it.  The actors were amazing, and the story is more extraordinary than I had realized.  Superficially, I was gratified that Harriet Tubman was five feet tall, as I am, and us wee folk can be powerful!  I love seeing a film by a woman director, and Kesi Lemmons did a great job. 
The bonus was seeing the previews, where 3 more films caught my eye:  the one with Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers, the live people redo of Mulan, which is one of my favorite Disneys, and Terrance Malick's new film about a person in Scandinavia who tries to save Jews from the Nazis during World War II.  Movies to look forward to.  Actually, there was another preview with Lakeith Stanfield that also looked promising.  Yeah!  The Oscar season is bringing us riches!

Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

Our three year old grandson was exuberant today at Fairyland.  He was noisy, ran a lot, made friends with a slightly older boy when he was sliding, snacked several times, fought going to the bathroom, wet his pants, went in the bathroom with me where there was a potty just his size, but he wouldn't sit on it, pretended his kitty was on a boat, wouldn't leave, but then was cheerful about getting back in the car.  He was a bundle of contradictions, and I let his energy sweep gently over me without ruffling my feathers.  His imagination is astounding, and I like to just sit there and listen to him, as I did after lunch while he piled up toy trucks to make a traffic jam, and I agreed to wave the helicopter overhead to report on traffic.  I love this age, when you learn so much from their pretending.  I remember my granddaughter making a train in her living room and I was a passenger while she fulfilled all the other roles, and my grandson talking for his trains while I overheard his worries about bullies and fears.  Now this grandson, and soon the baby will be creating his own little world to meet his needs and hopes and fears.  Play therapy indeed!

Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

Oh, my goodness!  I had nine and a half babysitting hours Tuesday and yesterday, the little bundle was fussy, culminating with 45 minutes of non-stop fuss.  Now, 45 minutes may not seem like a long time, but trust me, you just don't remember when your kids were little.  I walked him, I bounced him, I tried to get him to take a bottle, I tried to rock him, we sat on the front steps, I showed him every book and toy.  He was having none of it.  When daddy got home, he smiled at me from the security of his arms as if to say:  see, I just wanted mommy or daddy, and not YOU.  I was not hurt, I was delighted.  It meant there was not anything critical wrong, he was just DONE.  Well, I was DONE too.  I watched 3 Castle episodes with my husband, took a shower and went to bed at 9.  Okay, before last weekend it would have been 10, to give myself credit, but still.  I need to train with the Marines for this gig!

Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

Two friends and I took an older friend out for her birthday, her 90th.  We had a great lunch at a Japanese restaurant and saw the new Schrem art museum in Davis.  We all fell in love with a ceramics show by Kathy Butterfly.  So witty, so gorgeous, so goofy and absolutely female.  I loved almost every piece and we all saw the show twice.  There were other delights:  William Wiley, Arneson, Thiebaud, Joan Brown and the like.  Also a Deborah Butterfield horse, always a treat, and a great Cornell sculpture in the garden.  It was sunny and no hint of smoke, and we escaped after a stressful week and came home refreshed.  Our friend taught our children in kindergarten and first grade, and we've witnessed her creativity, her adjustment to retirement and her fierce determination in the face of aging.  She persuaded me to teach art for several years, and I was offered a great job and thoroughly enjoyed the teaching.  Her creativity rubbed off on me.  Now we meet occasionally for art shows or dance events or just old friends' get togethers.  I've known her now for over thirty years.  I hope she had fun yesterday.