This continues to be a time of relative turmoil in my little
life. Jay and his gang are moving
in many positive directions, and I am feeling buoyed as usual after our Skype
this morning. They are keeping me
in touch with youth and hope at a time when other family connections are old
and declining. Dad is home from
the hospital, which is good news, but he sounds very tired. His voice is thick on the phone and his
memory seems to be slipping. I
still hope that he will rally now that he’s reached his goal, to be back in the
apartment with mom, but I don’t know how much more he can take. Mom also sounds a bit frayed at the
edges, but I still wouldn’t dream of offering any suggestions about anything to
do with their futures. They’ll
work this out together as they have every other aspect of their lives;
although, I think that this time they are just going to hold on grimly where
they are until some force greater than their combined wills, and that will be a
formidable force, imposes itself on them.
I continue to
be kept active by: my contact with friends, both here and away,; the Vernon
Outdoors Club hikes and bikes; my Korean students; the library book-sorting
group and my house and garden. The
latter is glorious at the moment.
I have iris of every color both inside and out. They are on such long stems this year
that they fall under their own weight.
I bring them in and put them in every vase I own and some I’ve
devised. We had a hailstorm last
week that I missed because it was on Tuesday when I was in Kelowna for the last
day of Jules’ funeral ceremony. It
did serious damage to some gardens and orchards, but only a few irises and the
leaves of one plum tree seem to have been hit in my yard.
I recently read the novel Stoner by John Williams. It was written in 1965, so I continue
to be behind the times in my reading.
To give me the benefit of the doubt, it appears to have been largely
ignored when it was first published but even it’s re-release to wild acclaim a
few years ago seems to have eluded me.
At least I didn’t miss it entirely. Mo got it out of the library and gave it to me to read and
return when she left on her trip east.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a novel that was such a perfect union of
style and content. I became completely
lost in it and felt drained when I had finished reading. It was a subject, the life of a man
from a rural environment who becomes a university English professor, that I
readily associated with. The
perceptive details of the life and the austere language used to present it were
perfectly melded to create an overwhelming impression.
On a lighter note, I would recommend the film, “Tim’s
Vermeer”, especially to Don and Linda.
I saw it at the film club here two weeks ago. It’s slow, but so is its subject matter. Anyone who appreciates the time and
detail required to create something will be fascinated by it.
Going down into the area of columnar basalt on the Mount Baldy and Rimrocks hike.
Proudly Canadian. The view from Rawlings Bluff
Starting the hike up Mara Mountain, west of Kamloops (some Hoodoos in the left background).
Part way up Mara Mountain (Hoodoos on the left)
The view of the Thompson River and Kamloops from the top of Mara Mountain
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