Musings for a frigid January

It’s a bitter cold morning, and I just got back from walking Kaja. She never seems to mind the cold, but then she has a lot of fur. The only problem with that fur is that she loves to romp in the snow and walk in the snow, but when she does she gets little balls of snows in her paws and they freeze and really make her uncomfortable, so I often have to stop and clean out the snow in her paws. I always put on two layers and walk quickly, but the part of my face which isn’t covered feels like ice by the time I get back home. I could just let her out in the back yard and stay in where it is warm, but that doesn’t seem fair, and I am so used to being out each morning that I would miss it probably more than she would.

I missed last month’s column because I got busy and just didn’t get it typed. I am so glad as usual that the holidays are over. I have learned to adjust, so they don’t bother me as much as they used to. I used to listen to friends talking about their families coming home, and getting caught up in the hype of shopping and doing far too much. And because I didn’t have members of my family, I got more distressed and lonely all the time. Now I do what I want when I want and don’t worry about what others are doing. Jason, my son, and I keep in touch, but don’t plan any big event. This year we went out for breakfast and dinner and went to a show in between, and it was wonderful. No pressure to be anywhere and do anything. I loved it.

We went to see Avatar on Christmas Day and I truly enjoyed it. It was such an allegory for exactly our own greed and our treatment of less fortunate or different people. Technically it was very well done, and although I hated the violence, I rooted for the other side. I still can’t believe how we continue as a nation to exploit others. And in this movie, it is even another planet. We totally ignore the other culture and who they are as we have done so often in the past. What an arrogant nation we are. The Marine colonel is charge exemplifies every nasty thing we do and who we are. It is embarrassing even to see a movie that shows us ourselves in a mirror. It is a little scary to think that everyone everywhere can see us the way we truly are through a movie. Makes me want to join those on Pandora in the movie.

I also went to see Precious with a group from The Center on this last Wednesday, and although it was very truthful and shows what happens to many young women, yt was difficult to watch It made me even more glad that I work at an agency that tries to stop the rape and violence done in our society. All in all I guess it was a little of a downer to see both of them and see the somewhat like perspectives and yet see how our society seems to promote both. I need to see something lighter like Up in the Air or It’s Complicated and balance it out.

As I do in my reading, I’m going to go see ‘Up in the Air’ or ‘It’s Complicated’ to balance out the horror with some lightness. Sometimes I’m little ashamed to be a human being when you see the greed and violence perpetuated on others. Especially those like us who we should feel compassion and love for. If I dwell too long on what is wrong in the world I get terribly depressed, and I find that I have to let go of the madness. I am too old to change my life and begin a career that would really make a difference, so I just have to be the best person I can, try to help those I can and not dwell on thinking of the way some people prey on others, and think of the goodness in the world instead of dwelling on the bad.

I’ve done a lot of reading during this cold weather, mostly mysteries. I actually ran out of books and went out to the garage where I keep a supply of books bought at book sales and given to me by friends. I read Sharyn McCrumb’s If I’d Killed Him When I met Him, Indemnity Only by Sara Paretsky and A Cry in the Night by Mary Higgins Clark. I also read a couple young adult books and reread a Harry Potter book. I often do this so I can recommend something to the two Iraqi teenagers I tutor. I read Don’t Look and it Won’t Hurt by Richard Peck and Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

I’m reading two other books at the same time which I often do when I get a bored with one. I read too fast sometimes, and find that if I have two books going I can keep them separated better, and it also makes my favorites last longer. I am reading The Lacuna which is Barbara Kingsolver’s newest work and S is for Silence by Sue Grafton. Kingsolver is probably my all time favorite author and this is her first for a long time. It is a story of a man from two worlds. His mother was Mexican and his father American. He lives in Mexico primarily, works for Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, is acquainted with Trotsky who comes to Mexico and certainly has an outstanding education by living the history of the time and being surrounded by those who make the history that we only read about. Kingsolver’s books including Poisonwood Bible and Prodigal Summer are two of my all time favorites. The other reason I read two books at a time is that it makes the one I love last longer, and I’m trying to prolong the reading of The Lacuna.

Stay Warm!