Allan G. Hunter's Blog, page 23

Diary 119

Wednesday, July 15th

Covid has definitely stressed quite a few people. One dear friend is in despair about her job situation, trying to work out what she can do. Another has been kicked out of his home, by a wife who can’t deal with his drinking.  I wonder if, under more usual circumstances, he’d have been able to behave more reasonably? Is this a time of bringing things to light, or the straw that broke the poor old camel’s back?

I think it may actually be both. This added stress (on top of that provided by a maniacal “president”) may well feel intolerable to many, to which my response might be — OK, good.  That’s useful information and a very good reason to try to change things.

Change is in the air. It’s time, people, it’s time.

Diary 118

Diary 118

Tuesday, July 14th

Since it was the anniversary of La Prise de la Bastille (the event that started off the French Revolution) we felt an outing was in order. So we took the two older grandkids with us to the blueberry and raspberry fields of western mass. Much excitement, and no real need for face coverings as we were the only people there, in a valley full of blueberry bushes, with a few curious cows to look at us over the fence.

This was the second time since lockdown that I’d been beyond my town, and it was wildly exciting for the two girls. Blueberries, and open air! Cows and trees! Unknown places and black raspberries! 

Seeing their joy evoked within me all the joy in life and nature that had been buried by recent events, and it did me good to be brought back to myself. For if we lose our sense of joy in Nature, our sense of wonder and astonishment, what’s the point?

We all returned home a bit fruit-juice smeared and happy.

[image error]

Diary 117

Monday, July 13th

Wildlife is returning to our neighborhood with some assurance. Let me explain. Last night the neighbors decided to hold some sort of party and this kept me awake. Tossing and turning at a late hour one imagines many things. What I imagined was that I had not placed my recently-used bee-smoker safely back in the shed, in a place that was beyond the reach of flammable items.

So I got up, flung a dressing gown hastily over my unclothed self, and headed out to the shed to rectify matters before it burned down. I tiptoe across the lawn in bare feet, get to the door, unlock, and then hear a sound to my left. A skunk, very large, tail raised, is backing towards me. In short, ready to spray.

I move quickly into the shed and close the door quietly to avoid alarming Monsieur Skunk. So far, safe. But the skunk does not want to go away. I wait. I begin to wonder if I am destined to spend the night, or perhaps even the rest of eternity, in the shed. I wait in the dark, with the spiders for company, aware that I am clad only in my natty gent’s dressing gown. And I wait.

Eventually it feels as if the coast is clear – it’s a dark night and I can’t be sure. I make a sprint back to the backdoor. Safe at at last.

I relate this to the family the next morning.  They all seem to think it is hilarious.  I’m not so sure. It’s all a matter of perspective, isn’t it?

And the bee smoker was just fine where it was.

Diary 116

Sunday, July 11th

Covid-19 seems to be — shock horror — quite dangerous, especially in the Southern States which didn’t take it seriously. Florida has been especially hard hit. Even the “president” was seen wearing a mask today. Gosh, could it be a hoax?

It seems likely that the virus will be around for some time to come, wreaking its merciless havoc. So please, dear people, pace yourselves for the long haul. Be thoughtful, wear your face masks, avoid large public gatherings like the ones some of my neighbors seem to consider just fine, and be sensible. These precautions actually work. Even a mild case of this is deeply unpleasant. You are not invulnerable. You are a wonderful, unique, fragile miracle of nature.  Treasure that.

Diary 115

Saturday, July 10th

What a strange world this is. Roger Stone is pardoned by the “president”; the US has 70,000 new cases of covid in just one day; the “president” claims he ‘aced’ a cognitive ability test.

But — how many countries ask their president to take a cognitive ability test in the first place?

We are living in strange times and the point is not to rage at the madness of others, but to try to maintain our own sanity, sense of perspective, and sense of purpose.

Diary 114

Friday, July 9th

Today the ‘other’ grandpa came to us from the Cape to meet up with us, his daughter and grandkids for the first time since Christmas. It was a magnificent day, and yet it also brought home to me just how hard it can be for so many people who cannot or do not see much-loved family members because of lockdown. Of course some families are spread across the globe (my own birth family included) and so regular meeting is difficult for them too. But I do feel that people are not meant to live like that. Certainly the covid quarantine has made things worse for many people, suffering quietly, feeling bereft.

And yet I have to admire the fortitude of those who have kept reasonable quarantine and social distancing, and I’ve tried to do the same. This is not an easy road, my friends, and yet we are, like it or not going down it, so we may as well do things properly.

So I’ll quote an older Blues musician here on the topic of hardship and the Blues: “Muddy… all those guys, grew up hard. The thing about the Blues is that it holds a deep spiritual resignation…. Life is hard and you accept it and get on with living.”

Dairy 113

Diary 113

Thursday, July 8th

Slowly, inexorably, the wheels of justice turn. The Supreme Court declared that the “president’s” taxes may be released to a Grand Jury. The Court declared that not even a sitting president is above the law. This may be a slow process, an all-too-human process, but it restores my faith in the rule of law as administered by human beings in difficult times. We shall see where it goes from here.

On a different note I found some more four-leaf clovers on my lawn. I decided to wait to pick them, or perhaps to leave them, and in the interim one of the bunnies that visits our garden solved my problem by eating them. I suspect the message is all too clear – one cannot preserve what chance brings, and one cannot hold onto luck. It is fleeting, and has to be enjoyed in the moment.  The ancient Greeks had an image of Success —  the winged Victory Nike — which would not stay very long. Later they developed the slightly silly idea of the wingless victory, whom they hoped would stick around. Of the two Nike was the more powerful and the less predictable.

We’d do well to remember that.

Dairy 112

Diary 112

Wednesday, July 8th

3 million covid cases in the US, as of today. The ‘president’s’ niece tells how screwed up he is – but why does that give him the right to be so ghastly to everyone else?

I went on my first outing beyond my local town in 112 days – to Marblehead. It was astonishingly good to get out, see something different, and connect with old friends, even at 6 foot distance. It felt like being allowed to breathe again.  I also consumed the most divine lobster roll of my life. I’d have taken a picture but then you’d have hated me for it.

Life, if we focus on the good things, can be very sweet. Let us not forget that.

Diary 111

Diary 111

Tuesday, July 7th

How things change! A year ago at about this time I was in Utrecht, The Netherlands, that serene and most un-touristed of cities. It won me over in no time, of course, by its relaxed charm and unpretentious air. Am I nostalgic? Yes. And the world, all of it, has altered since then.  I’m deeply grateful to have been able to see this place, be in this place, in the days of pre-covid optimism.

[image error]

Diary 110

Monday, July 6th

One of the things that brings me a sense of hope is that, even with a ‘president’ who is manifestly corrupt, plenty of things are being brought up before the institution of the Law. So Ghislane Maxwell has been arrested and charged; the memoirs written by Mary Trump and Melania’s aide are due to appear, despite threats to silence them, and will reveal whatever it is they will reveal. Bolton’s book has been leaked, the Putin payments of bounties on US soldiers unchallenged by the ‘commander in chief’, have been made public.  And so on.

The pushback has begun to gather steam.

Of course, dedicated followers of this ‘president’ will not be persuaded to think again. But even some of them are starting to have doubts. Republican Senators are muttering about how their leader must be stopped.  What took you so long, guys? Really, didn’t you notice something before now? Or are the rats doing what they always do to sinking vessels?