Category: future

Under the Sea

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 13 Comments

The other afternoon I went to my granddaughter’s first grade singing concert named “Under the Sea.” In this world of madness, chaos and indifference, I still have faith in our future.

To watch the joy and concentration on the faces of 30 six- and seven-year-olds while they make swimming arm gestures and sing songs like “Baby Shark” and “Yellow Submarine,” I truly believe there is hope for mankind in general and friends and family in particular.

All colors, all sizes, all levels of interest, these kids represented the best in all of us. I could see future singers, actresses, doctors, and engineers in the sing songy off-key voices.

I have to laugh, because the other day I was watching The Story Channel and they were talking about ancient Egyptians preparing for the after life. They had ideas and hieroglyphics and even directions on how to move into an eternal world of warmth and peace and love.

They believed in tomorrow — a tomorrow that didn’t include depression, apathy, and CPAP machines.

So did the children singing in front of me.

I enjoyed the fact that, for practical purposes, those kids and I had a lot in common. We still  have much to learn, we have faith in others, and we believe all will turn out well in the end. We all do our best to  ignore the brutes and big mouths and troublemakers and make it a point to enjoy life. 

And, like the Egyptians, we both believe in tomorrow.

Maybe one of those glow-in-the-dark fish or starfish in today’s picture is me. Glowing in the dark, behind held firmly by the next generation.

There’s a lot of fish and starfish glowing in the picture — maybe you’re one too.

 

 

 

 

 

Faerie Paths — The Future

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The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

 

 

 

Which Books Would You Bring?

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It’s the beginning of a Glorious Day here in the Midwest.

Being alone with my dogs and cat and fish and computer and crafts room and my messy closet floor, there will be a lot of things I’ll want to accomplish that I can’t always accomplish with company around.

But you know me. That’s not what this particular blog is about.

I had an idea in the shower this morning, and I’d LOVE to hear back from all of you. The more the merrier.

I really enjoyed the end scene in the movie “The Time Machine” with Rod Taylor, where George comes back from the future to grab three books to take back with him. It goes something like this:

Filby: He must have taken something with him.
Mrs. Watchett: Nothing, except three books.
Filby: Which three books?
Mrs. Watchett: I don’t know. Is it important?
Filby: No, I suppose not. Only – what three books would you have taken?

I thought about throwing you/us onto a deserted island or in an isolated cabin in the woods, but then you/we would have more to worry about than what books to read. Food, tools, medicine, is all too much to think about on this beautiful morning.

So here is the question:

If you time traveled into the future (or into the past), which three books would you take?

This time around I’m going to put restrictions on the question. Like being specific on the time period, (forward OR past), what you have in YOUR library (vs. stopping at the bookstore first), and only three books.

After all, those are the choices George had.

And, as a side, if you feel like it, are the three books the first three that came to mind, or did you think about it for a bit first?

I’ll go first. And it’s really hard.

I ran downstairs, tripping over my Tears crafts bins, and looked at my shelves. Ack! An eclectic mix, for sure. Seeing as they have to be books from MY library, for reading I’d take Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien; for art, the History of Art (1st Edition) by H.W. Janson (1982); and for poetry, The Illustrated Household Book of Poetry Charles A Dana 11th Edition,  1868.

None of these books are “modern” in the sense of the word; I’m ashamed I don’t have any current poetry or updated art books. I tossed around bringing a book of Shakespeare or Edgar Allen Poe stories and poems, but their rhetoric might not be as entertaining after the 375th read.

If I had time to think about it, or had time to run to the bookstore or library, my choices may have been different. But, for what I have, for what I would have to share with others for eternity, would be a little bit of entertainment through the ages.

After all, how could you not enjoy a happy ending?

“At last they rode over the downs and took the East Road, and then Merry and Pippin rode on to Buckland and already they were singing again as they went. But Sam turned to Bywater, and so came back up the Hill, as day was ending once more. And he went on, and there was yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected. And Rose drew him in, and set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap. He drew a deep breath. ‘Well, I’m back,’ he said.”

 

 

One Step at a Time

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 10 Comments
Pat Fitzgerald

I look around cautiously … my breathing slow, steady, rhythmic.

I listen … John Wick (of all movies) fighting and umph-ing and ack-ing and uh-king in the background. But that’s all. John Wick is riding a horse through city streets, no less. That’s some feat.

It is the day after New Year’s Day. Celebrated New Year’s Eve with my family, spent yesterday with my brother-in-law, reorienting him to the outside world a little. It was a good day.

I look around again … cautiously.

Has the bad luck from 2020 followed me into this Saturday matinee? Is the boogeyman waiting for me to take a misstep so he/she/it can jump on me with both feet?

I didn’t really have a horrible 2020. I lost two people I loved, which was heartbreaking. I cleaned out a hoarder house and had to give up a totally new start on my retirement plans by giving up a few projects/things I wanted to do.

I did have blessings every day. I have a partner who supports me, a dog who hangs with me, a cat that loves me. I have improved my blog ratings and found dozens of fantastic artists to share with you and cleaned places in my house that haven’t felt the dust rag or seen the light of day in 15 years. My mammogram was negative, as was my Covid test.

So the positives really do outweigh the negatives.

But I’ve also become more spacy in 2020. I have dropped more, forgotten more, cut more fingers and gotten more black and blue marks than in years previous. According to my partner I am forgetting more and understanding less. 

I find myself watching every step going down the steps and making sure 10 times the stove is off and am self-conscious walking across the snow. I get flashes of what it would be like to slip on the stairs and come crashing down a level, to slice my finger off cutting an onion, or slipping in the shower.

I hate suddenly becoming so self-conscious.

Think of all the things we did when we were younger. We all have episodes where we should have wound up in the hospital — or worse. But we played, we took chances, we goofed off and put our lives in fast forward.

I watch 2021 spread slowly across the world and my life and don’t want to live in fast forward any more. 

I find myself taking smaller bites and relishing each, individual one. I have lost some sense of smell, but take one spray of scent every morning. I text friends when I don’t really have much to say, and hang with my grandkids even when they are off playing with each other. 

2020 was a year of nightmares — but not being able to move forward is a nightmare, too.

Let’s make the most of the possibilities of 2021 — just maybe one step at a time.