11/5/20 The once a month meeting with my “other” book club was this morning. When I lead, like today, I’m always a bit apprehensive. Do I have too many questions? Not enough to fill the time? Don’t talk too much. But those concerns couldn’t spoil the joy of this wonderful book. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather, one of my all-time favorites, was our choice for today. I love the main character, Father Latour’s approach to life – non confrontational, patient, persistent. Cather gives us many vignettes, told like family stories after a good dinner, and from them emerge the story of an adventurous, successful life in the new world of New Mexico in the mid 1800’s. The Archbishop defines that success: “To fulfil the dreams of one’s youth; that is the best that can happen to a man.”
The serene ending is one of my favorite in literature. The dying Archbishop relives the emotional turmoil of a young man leaving the French home he loved for the adventure of the unknown world. Now as an old man, it is time for him to repeat that scene; he will leave his beloved new world for the next unknown.
11/5/20 An appropriate article for upcoming winter from the NY Times: “What Scandinavians can teach us About Embracing Winter.” Hygge in Danish; Koselig in Norwegian are the words used to describe the comfort of coziness when the weather is dark and cold. Bundled up, sitting around the bonfire, drinking something hot – these things create comfort in an unfriendly environment. Getting outdoors is key. Hmmm.
11/8/20 Last year, our daughter gave us tickets to the Rolling Stones concert in Seattle. It was an amazing experience – wailing guitars, a wall of sound. Front man Mick Jagger ran back and forth for two hours dominating the stage. What great physical shape. He was 76. Today, it is Joe who is the inspiration. Running for and being elected president! We are the same age – 78. These two men are wonderful examples of the new old age.
11/10/20 We finished our discussion of As I Lay Dying. Two books with death in the title in a short time, but both were about ways to live. This one I didn’t care for. Why does Faulkner use illiterate people to explore the most sophisticated ideas – being/non being, what is language? His stream of consciousness and dialect made this a very difficult book with little return.
11/15/20 I was gifted The Bird Way by Jennifer Ackerman, non-fiction and yes, about birds. Fascinating to read what scientists have learned in the last couple of decades with new mini equipment and to think of the patience required to conduct their experiments. One kind of bird, while still in the egg, can understand its parent’s concern about heat and adjust its growth accordingly. How do scientists know this? I’ll take their word for it, but it is mind boggling.
Another bird fact learned this week from a totally different source is that a group of coots is called a cover. It was my birthday and we rented a house on a lake hoping for some good birding. There was little variety, but one afternoon along came thirty or so coots swimming in a V. It was a first for us and Google was able to supply the word.
Faulkner is one of my favorite authors. He makes his characters come alive as he tries to tell the awful legacy of slavery and the Civil War loss. As I Lay Dying is a reprieve: almost comic characters living a hard life they can’t control
It is certainly a memorable story. Some of those scenes will stay in my mind for a long time.