Monday, November 23, 2015

Brown and Gray

I was talking to a friend tonight who said, "Every year I feel I have less and less to be thankful for." Maybe because we remember better times, I suggested. And we've lost a lot along the way, including the little things like patience and our minds.

These are the days when things are getting very real. I've stepped back from Fecebook. It can take over your life, especially when you volunteer to admin or monitor a page. Or 5. The constant barrage of opinion, right or wrong, agree or disagree, judging judging judging, is darkening to the soul. Too much news is as bad for you as ignorance. I remind myself this crapola is why I gave up cable, and that the intrusive Comcast homepage plastic news is bad enough to have to see. "News" media has turned up the volume, and I'm just going to try not listening for once. People pieces, the ones on BBC, are enough to tell me stories. The Guardian is not purposely traumatizing. Though don't get me started on the BBC.

Tonight it's finally cold. Fall is here. It's Thanksgiving week, I have no idea what's going to happen with Billy beyond he'll be here Thursday and probably Friday. This is because of medication timing and confusion, along with whatever else. I try not to speculate. Kick and Scott will be by on Friday, I haven't seen her in years. Billy gave Patrick his old leather jacket and she sent a photo. I can't believe he's a 6' tall 17 year-old wearing Billy's leather. Strider had a kitchen fire and was burned pretty badly on her hands and arms trying to put it out. But she's okay and the house will be fixed, hopefully by the new year. What's verynot okay is that there was a baby's death in the family. That's never going to be okay.

And all of that and so much more is why I haven't done much besides read historical background for the Beest book in weeks. Maybe for once I'm actually doing this bookwriting thing the correct way. It's good dissociation from the holy shit-look-what-happened-my-opinion-is-better-than-yours circus of the day world we live in. We didn't used to have to know people this well. We didn't used to have to know everything that everyone on the planet said. What the hell? I'm better off learning about the battle for the Somme or the Red Baron.

Yes, times are hard and even scary. People are nuttier in greater numbers than I've ever noticed. Well, we were all nutty in the 70s but that was in a friendly way. This isn't. I'm already treating gut problems (and miss my percolated coffee!!) and I don't need more tsuris. So to hell with it, let me map out Beest's travels around France as an Allied spy in WW1. She's roughly following my Uncle Bert, who bicycled around France carrying maps and intelligence from unit to unit. It's not a happy place, but a hundred years later it's pretty straightforward and not as terrifying as say, any of the current Republican Party Presidential candidates.

This Thanksgiving I do have a lot to be thankful for, and I'm trying to be mindful of it. Good friends, family, enough. I could do with less of some things and more of others, but enough is what I have. Which makes me a very lucky woman.
Happy Thanksgiving
x

9 comments:

MunirGhiasuddin said...

I wish that a lot of people could have the understanding that you have. Enough is a good word. We do realize in time that a lot of things do not matter and if we have what matters it is more than enough to be thankful for.

Elephant's Child said...

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. This week, and every week.

Geo. said...

Have I told you lately I sure like how you write? There is a strength in you that comes through it and astonishes me. All my best wishes for a happy holiday, Austan. You're remarkable.

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

Constant news battering our sense of well being is destroying hope. There is so much hate and negativity out there that I sometimes just want to hide, but where. Too much, too much.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, Laura with those you love. Keep busy and turn off all media. It helps with digestion.

Anonymous said...

Happy Thanksgiving to you....may you have more of the good and less of the bad.

klahanie said...

Hey Laura,

The world right now is the most worrying I can ever remember. We must unite in a common cause.

A peaceful, hopeful, American Thanksgiving to you, my kind friend.

And thank you for the Christmas card with the Bernie Saunders sticker :)

Hugs and hope, your way,

Gary :) x

Lisa said...

Happy Thanksgiving to all! If you are staying home tomorrow evening and have the ability to watch the NatGeo channel - I urge you all to watch 'Saints & Strangers' starting at 7pm EST. A beautiful piece of work about the Plymouth Pilgrims, Squanto,the Wampanoag Confederacy, and the "first Thanksgiving".

MoonRaven said...

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to you and good luck with all your 'Beestly' writings. It sounds like a fun project.

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving. We just got home today from a week with the grandchildren in Florida, so you know our holiday was fantabulous.

You're right about the news being disheartening, but I refuse to let it get me down. The best thing we can do is brighten the corners where we are, and I have no doubt that you do just that.

Enjoy that research, kiddo. Sending lots of blessings your way. (Did you sneeze...?)