Late afternoon. The morning was spent
at a doctor’s appointment for Carol and making appointments for the hand
surgeon for you, loading the new printer software on your MacAir, ran errands,
had a late lunch at the Cracker Barrel and dessert at Graeter’s.
1654 hours. The last two days have
moved right on by. Diplomat’s completed her text biography and she needs a
thesis, an objective to prove. I want this to be a well-done expository work
even if it is fiction.
She’s going to write it as non-fiction. –
Amorella
Whatever. I’ll work on Brothers 13. I
have to finish up my update on phone numbers too. Last night I spent time
looking over new televisions as that is the focus of the new Consumer Reports.
This is supposed to be the best time of the year to buy them; our Sony was
bought when I retired in the summer of 2003. Since the 2003 Bose (TV, radio and
DVD) system wore out and is long out of date there is now way we can attach a
Blue Ray DVD or access the Internet. We packed up our DVD’s and put them in the
basement, at least those that Kim and Paul did not take. We haven’t watched any
of them for a long time anyway. The Sony is working well; it does have HD and a
good sound system. In fact, after going through the TV’s on sale and if and
when we do buy one I’m still in favor of a first tier Sony though it won’t be a
huge screen. The one we have now is 34’’ and it is one of the best of that time
and the last with the cathode tube HD televisions. The TV room has six large
windows (with shades) so it will have to be a screen for that, probably a 46”
screen rather than 51” or 55”. The one I like the best, at present, is the Sony
47” LED – 120 Hz – smart – 3-D model KDL47W802a. Presently I can save about four
hundred dollars but who knows, maybe next year. We both have arthritis and if
we have another set that last at least ten years there will be a lot less
driving and a lot more in house entertainment in that time.
You put a lot of enthusiasm in your research
projects, boy. – Amorella
I have always enjoyed research. The
best part of graduate school was writing, completing and passing the thesis
program. If I had worked on a doctorate to that point that would have been the
best part, at least I assume so.
2158 hours. I had an hour and a half
nap. We watched the news ate left over turkey soup for supper, and watched last
Sunday’s “This Old House” from the Kentucky PBS network. The Brothers 13 is
completed though presently I am unsure why this particular segment is important
to the whole.
You need to remember to take a nap during
the day. Also, you have been up since before seven and did your exercises before
breakfast not that it made much difference in your sugar levels. – Amorella
It was 155. I had no food after
breakfast and we had errands I took sugar again about one and it was 145. I
think I am going to need to change the small medication I do take. I’ll see Dr.
B later this month.
Add
and post. – Amorella
***
(final) The Brothers 13 ©2014, rho GMG.One
While
sitting on the couch Robert glanced at his brother’s bare feet. “You need to
trim those nails.”
Richard
peeped down, “They look fine to me. Give them another couple of weeks. Why do
you wear socks?”
“I
feel better in socks.”
“From
feet to the grave, what have you found in your genealogy files?”
Robert
picked up the paper. “This old letter from Oxford Ancestors, it says, ‘ . . .we
cannot identify your Y-chromosome as being of Norse Viking by the criteria
outlined above. It is much more likely that your Y-chromosome has been
inherited from a paternal ancestor who belonged to one of the ancient Celtic
tribes that lived in Britain and Ireland before the Vikings arrived at the end
of the eighth century AD.’”
“Grandpa
was sure we had Viking blood in us. He always said we were related to Ragnar
the Dane.”
Robert
snickered, “He told me we were related to Abu Hubba, the Viking.”
Richard
pulled another file. “Well, then there is this old family name Balduh on Grandpa’s great grandmother’s
side. It sure looks Scandinavian to me. The h
was probably a hard c or a k. Balduk
sure looks Germanic. Something right out of the ancient Norse sagas or Beowulf.”
Robert,
whose interest was quickly waning, added, “Balduk
could have been Baldacci then it would appear Italian.” I would rather dissect
a corpse than a language, thought Robert, and continued, “Well, it was the
great grandmother’s side not the great grandfather’s. The male line has always
been the only one legitimate on the British Isles, right?”
“Of
course,” cracked Richard. Both laughed sardonically. “I'm hungry. Do you want
some ice cream?”
“What
do you have, Robbie?”
“Not
here. Let’s go to the DQ or Graeter’s.”
“How
about stopping at the college bookstore first?”
“That’s
fine,” said Richard. “What are you looking for?”
My
poem,” replied Robert in a deadpan manner.
“I
need to get this Merlyn series done,” stated Richard in irritation.
“Three
books. It’ll be years until you redo that trilogy.”
Richard
scratched his nose and looked for his shoes. “You work a long time, then you
retire. I like having a project or two. That is what is good about genealogy. I
can dabble in Grandpa’s notes one day then work on my book the next.”
“You
just like writing about our hometown,” said Robert.
“It
is just like everyone else’s hometown. Familiar landmarks, different street and
place names. People have their uptown or downtown businesses that last a long
time, doctors, dentists and the like. Groceries or food markets that people are
familiar special areas occupying peoples’ lives. One town is as good as any
another for a setting.” Richard paused, “Where are we going again?”
“Bookstore,
then the DQ I guess, if you still want to go.”
Richard
replied quickly, “I’ll drive.”
“In
high school we used to borrow Grandpa’s VW a lot.” Robert laughed, “it had
those pop open back windows and a nearly non-existent heater.”
Later
the two sat, one with a small chocolate cone and the other with small chocolate
malt. Both faced north looking at the old Riverton High School they attended in
the late nineteen fifties. “There’s our sophomore homeroom,” pointed Richard.
“Yeah,
I never got in trouble in that room, but you did,” commented Robert.
“True.
I got three whacks in the principal’s office for talking. That wouldn’t happen
today.”
“We
thought we were going to be nuked by the Russians. It hasn’t come to it, but
eventually we will be nuked by one set of terrorists or another.”
“Nuked
or plagued,” added Richard.
“Yep.
Nuked or plagued. That’s the way it will be.”
Richard
smiled, “Not many places to hide either.”
“New
Zealand would be a good spot.”
"Yeah,"
said Richard without much enthusiasm as his mind had begun running over the
characters and plot of Nevil Shute's On the Beach. Shute created a novel out of
Eliot's words in "The Hollow Men" -
This is the way
the world ends
Not with a bang
but a whimper.
It
was a dark, dark novel, reflected Richard matter-of-factly, still surprised
that the world survived those Cold War times; and the 1959 film was just as
dark. It had Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins in the
leads; directed by Stanley Kramer. The setting was 1964 and in the black and
white film no one was going to survive the radiation, not in Australia, New
Zealand, Argentina or South Africa. Not one human being survives. How did we
ever make it this long without a nuclear war? I have no idea. Sometimes I think
we are all dead and don’t know.
***
2216
hours. I decided to read Grandma 13 and I like this story very much. In my mind
I was there and watched it as Amorella set the letters in my fingertips. I find
a joy between the lines. I made a change or two. This is a good story in my
heart even if it isn’t written as well as it could be.
This is an unexpected comment. Add and post.
– Amorella
***
(final) Grandma's Story 13 ©2014 rho GMG.One
I have a little story for you, noted
Grandma. This narrative takes place in a narrow area of India in the sixth
century. Thar stands tall along the upper Krishna River in the Maharashtra
state in the Western Ghats mountain range. The eight hundred mile river flows
east to west across India to the Bay of Bengal. To the far north is the Indian
desert of Sahara-like sand dunes. To the Krishna River’s far southwest coast of
India in the present day Kerala state are coastal semi-evergreen forests. This limited
area of the subcontinent has the Indian Ocean to its west and the high Western
Ghats Mountain to its east.
Thin Thar and his beautiful full-bodied,
long black haired partner, Malabar sit eating some fruit on a large ash gray
boulder on the south shoreline of the Krishna. Behind them about three hundred
feet is an ancient temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple has long been
destroyed but it has a near twin still standing and in use in the state of
Bihar, the Mundeshwari Devi Temple. Both towered temples were built for the
worship of Lord Shiva in the early first century. A younger couple, Goa and
Comorin, come out of the entrance to the small temple and see the backs of the
older couple lounging on the rock.
An ever so slight wind, a seeming
inconsequential breeze with a flit of bliss, accompanies Goa and Comorin on
their now judicious walk to see their friends and to innocently ask how it is
that Thar and Malabar long ago had come to be married and to live in such peace
with one another.
Thar
rose and stood loincloth naked while Malabar sat. In solemn tone he declared as
he had many times in the years before, "There will be great floods from
these mountains to our north."
With
her feet dangling in the cool water and turning her head slightly to her left
and up to see her husband's eyes looking down, Malabar grumbled, “There are
always floods, Thar," then with a twinkle in her eye, added, "And
droughts too; nevertheless, we cannot wade across the Krishna without getting
our feet wet."
Thar
turned his head having observed Goa and Comorin within a few feet of the rock.
"Hello,"
said Comorin energetically, "We thought we saw you from the Temple."
She paused as Malabar turned their way. "What's wrong," she blurted,
"Thar stands while you sit?"
Malabar
did not bother to stand. It was easier to look up at the three of them.
"Thar is the problem," she stated matter-of-factly, "He wants to
wade across the great Krishna without getting his feet wet."
"You
need a blessing from Lord Shiva," declared Goa earnestly, "to wade
the Krishna without getting wet feet."
Attaching
to the immediate humor of the moment, and to the quick twinkling exchange
between husband and wife, Thar replied, "What blessing would that be, my
young friend Goa, so that I may wade and not have to take a boat across to keep
dry?"
Perplexed
by the sudden question Goa ran his mind through the moments of meditation they
had just spent in the Temple. Goa lowered his eyes and confessing, "Only
as a soul can you be liberated from the physical, Thar; thus being alive you
will have to take a boat across the river."
Malabar
smiled warmly at her two young friends, "That is just what I told him,
Goa. Thank you for clarifying this for me." She touched her husband left
leg in friendly jest and continued, "See, Thar," she looked knowingly
as any woman in her position would, "What would I do if you waded across
and I was left here alone?"
Thar stood tall and scratched his head,
he looked seriously at their two young friends and then down at his wife,
"Come, Malabar" he said gently, "please stand so we four might
stand together as two couples." He paused as he helped her up. The four
witnessed a sudden and unannounced meeting of common human spirit.
Thar
immediately realized the four were standing together in the cardinal directions
unaware. "We will soon be the North and South winds and in time you two
will be the East and West. Lord Shiva speaks in such a heartfelt meeting as
ours and as such the four of us beyond ashes and smoke will dance over the
Earth and not a one of us will retire with either wet feet or dry soles."
Old
Grandma Earth smiled; nodded her head and quipped, "Not everything in the
world is as loose or as tight as it seems." She continued in a calm,
"Transcend,
transcend, a beginning, a
middle and an end
While
talking to a thousand, to a couple, or to a single friend."
***
No comments:
Post a Comment