Friday, November 21, 2003
I wish I could capture the quality of light right now. It is a lovely shadowless flat twilight that followed a sunset of ice blues and salmon pinks. The air was warm as I walked around the neighborhood, and everything seemed to respond to that warmth. A bat fluttered over a gravel drive hunting the sluggish black moths. A first year robin tested its voice, first with a hoarse scolding chirp, then with the classic spring song in halting phrases. I needed some beauty today. A co-worker who helped me through cancer was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. He had Hodgkin's disease ten years ago. Fear of secondary cancer grips the heart of any survivor like a cold secret. Of course it is difficult to tell if this is a secondary cancer, and the medical establishment applies life saving tactics first and asks questions later. The answers are published in journals undecipherable to the layman or survivor, and that cold secret is left to be contemplated some other day.
Monday, November 03, 2003
Leaves are bright as jewels right now and the air is warm and heavy, not unlike May. Spectacular.
We got cleaned up on Saturday night and went to the Hilbert Circle Theatre (http://www.indianapolissymphony.org/hilbert/) for a night of wonderful Halloween classics, beginning with a lovely lilting "Danse Macabre" that had me grinning like a madwoman throughout. I intend to return and enjoy our symphony sooner than later.
Sunday was so warm and sunny. We trekked over to Broadripple and the Indianapolis Art Center(http://www.indplsartcenter.org/) for their annual Day of the Dead celebration. We have an alter this year, in honor of my father Richard Beard. I was impressed by the size of the crowd and the tasty free food and had to dodge a myriad of darting children with faces painted as skulls... Several friends turned up, including one with her son, 13 or 14, whom I have not seen since he was an infant! When I looked at this tall boy I really felt the passage of time. Ah, mortality! Death smiles at you while the sun warms your face. What an appropriate place to experience this sensation. Later we walked through Crown Hill Cemetary in a candle lit procession attended by the Mayor among others. El Sol provided free tasty dinner, and car trouble provided a couple of hours of frustration to prevent the weekend from being perfect. I shall refrain from posting a string of curses upon the vehicle.
We got cleaned up on Saturday night and went to the Hilbert Circle Theatre (http://www.indianapolissymphony.org/hilbert/) for a night of wonderful Halloween classics, beginning with a lovely lilting "Danse Macabre" that had me grinning like a madwoman throughout. I intend to return and enjoy our symphony sooner than later.
Sunday was so warm and sunny. We trekked over to Broadripple and the Indianapolis Art Center(http://www.indplsartcenter.org/) for their annual Day of the Dead celebration. We have an alter this year, in honor of my father Richard Beard. I was impressed by the size of the crowd and the tasty free food and had to dodge a myriad of darting children with faces painted as skulls... Several friends turned up, including one with her son, 13 or 14, whom I have not seen since he was an infant! When I looked at this tall boy I really felt the passage of time. Ah, mortality! Death smiles at you while the sun warms your face. What an appropriate place to experience this sensation. Later we walked through Crown Hill Cemetary in a candle lit procession attended by the Mayor among others. El Sol provided free tasty dinner, and car trouble provided a couple of hours of frustration to prevent the weekend from being perfect. I shall refrain from posting a string of curses upon the vehicle.
