Seasonal Memories

I just got the sweetest email from a man I went to college with. His sister passed away, and learning of it, I sent him a note of condolence and to let him know I was thinking of him. I have not been in contact with him since college, so it took a bit of internet searching to find him. But I was successful and he responded.

The sweet part was both that he was appreciative of my comments and that he remembered me. I wasn't sure he would. It's been decades. It makes me smile to know that someone I thought of so fondly has returned the sentiment.

For my first two years in college I hung out in the theatre department. It was a magical place. The women were beautiful, the men were beautiful (it was the late 60's after all) and everyone was enormously talented. I loved it but I couldn't see myself making a career of it, so I hightailed it over to the anthropology department and happily studied culture and primates and early man. I have never regretted returning to an academic field. But thinking about my old friend brought back all sorts of memories. I was delighted to remember the names of the productions I worked on (I did Tech -- set painting, stage crew, costumes), the parties I attended, the romantic intrigues of my fellow students, and now that I think of it, the faculty as well.

Freshman year, around this time -- October/November -- it seemed I and everyone around me was feeling out of sorts, itchy, like something was off, but we couldn't put a finger on it. I was sitting on the stairs in the theatre building, probably looking out of sorts, when the beautiful woman who loved & was loved by the subject of this post wandered by. She took one look at me, sat down, and declared it was "the season of the witch." Brilliant! I knew exactly what she meant. It was that time of the year when things are just weird.

All day I have been listening to 60's music, dancing to Laura Nyro & Van Morrison, and thinking how it's kind of that time of year. As I was writing this post I found Donovan's Season of the Witch and listened. The lyrics don't really say anything but the music reminds me of old friends never forgotten. It's ok if things get weird. I'm still smiling!

How Can Pink be Red?

I was wandering over in the pretty pink arty section of the blogosphere and was really surprised to find a woman commenting on how glorious Red is, as in politics.

I do forget that people who like the same things as I do (art, collage, lace, pink), do not actually think like I do. Honestly I was dumbfounded. I'm trying to figure out if this means I never visit her blog again or say hi to her at art events. It actually changes how I view her! Hmm will this post change how you view me? I'm hoping the three people who read this blog are left-leaning.

I always say I'm not interested in politics. But I'm pretty sure that is not true. I care about this country. I care about kindness and generosity; smart politicians and helping people who are not as fortunate as I. I care about organizations like the ACLU who are accused of left leaning but still defend right-wing groups if their rights have been impinged.

I did hear an interesting comment on NPR last week. A man called in and said since it would probably happen anyway, some good could come out of the republicans gaining power. They will have to do something and not just sit back and blame the democrats, as they have these past 2 years. Who knows, it may energize the left. Look what happened to Newt Gingrich.

And does anyone wonder why the republicans want to be considered RED? Don't they know red is communist, that Joe McCarthy's followers stressed "better dead than red?" Where is their sense of history? Their erudition? Oh wait, I forgot for a moment who I was ranting about!

addendum: I re-read this post and realize it might seem a bit naive. It wasn't really that someone had a different point of view than I have, it's just I've never seen anyone over in that part of the blogosphere talking politics. Here I would expect it, but there? Get out your best Gomer Pyle voice and say, "Surprize, Surprize."