Odds and Ends

It's always good to see a new post from Redemption Shoes. They don't appear often. In her latest, she welcomes (p)(b) back to blogging, as I should have done before now; tells a personal story in her unique style and tone; quotes a beautiful and appropriate passage from Frost.

A few days ago I received a letter from Hal Lewis on my post about Chris Hedges' article suggesting America is in need of a moral bailout. Hal took me to task, kindly but firmly, asking why I had equivocated at all about Chris' message.  I answered him, and we've subsequently posted our exchange in the comment thread. I've also added a letter I received about this article from a much older friend. Along with the previous exchange there with Vivian, I think these thoughts add a lot to what was a fairly sketchy post to begin with, and so I'm calling your attention to them. It would be great if any of you wanted to add your own ideas to this thread; I did hear a good deal more offline than in the comments, which was too bad; the views different from mine added a lot to the discussion.

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The last few days in Montreal have been sunnier and brighter, nearly convincing me that spring is around the corner. I do see that sleet is predicted for Tuesday. Sigh. We seem to be putting two steps forward for every one back, though. On one bright afternoon I went over to the park and sat on a bank above the lower lake, which hasn't been cleaned up or reflooded yet, and still contains evergreen trees and large mounds of snow and ice left over from the skating area that continued almost without interrruption all winter long.

Like me, lots of other people were sitting and enjoying the sun on their faces or backs, or walking their dogs and baby carriages along the paths that circle the lake. A tall man came down the middle of the dry lake, walking on the gravel, trailed by a tiny daughter whose little bare arms, poking out of a pink ruffly dress, waved and gesticulated in the cool air. She carried a stick that bumped over the rocks and then beat against the ice; she dropped the stick and put both hands down on the snow and then lifted them up over her head, as delighted at the coldness she'd just discovered as any polar explorer.

On my other side, a very young couple - they couldn't have been more than twenty years old - had brought their winter-born baby out for what seemed like its first park outing. Passing a camera back and forth, the boy and girl took turns taking pictures of each other with the baby, the lake in the background, and then spent a while propping the baby up against a tree and taking more pictures of it. I wondered what the baby thought. I've seen quite a few of these new babies lately, blinking in the sunlight as they face forward in vigorously-propelled strollers, plunged headlong into their first spring.

Comments

[Elizabeth]

I love that image of babies and their first spring. It's beautiful.

[Mouse]

babies like little flowers, turning their heads to face the sun

[Robb]

Kia ora Beth,
Glad to read you are soon to be in the throes of spring. Over here we had a most beautiful autumn weekend but winter is lurking close. How enjoyable the warm sun can be!
Cheers,
Robb

[Teresa]

Sleet!?? I don't like the sound of that. Remember, I told you I wanted all that winter stuff cleared away by the time I got there on the 29th.

;-|

[dale]

(o)