{"id":2853,"date":"2023-01-15T14:03:01","date_gmt":"2023-01-15T21:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/?p=2853"},"modified":"2023-01-16T21:25:12","modified_gmt":"2023-01-17T04:25:12","slug":"good-new-year-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/?p=2853","title":{"rendered":"GOOD NEW YEAR NEWS and ditch grasses"},"content":{"rendered":"

[I like to think these news items are a bit like\u00a0Louis Jenkins’ “small stories”,<\/strong> without his poetic chops.]<\/p>\n

Good News, finally!\u00a0Charlie and I both had COVID and\u00a0 were quarantined together for ten days\u00a0<\/span><\/b>in my studio apartment of about 400 square feet, which is\u00a0bad news<\/strong>, but we had been boosted, recovered quickly, which is\u00a0good news<\/strong>, and committed neither mom-icide or son-icide, which is very good news. WHEW!<\/strong><\/p>\n

—————————————-<\/p>\n

\u00a0Good news!\u00a0 Maira Kalman\u2019s new book, Women Holding Things,<\/em> is my current favorite and a wonder.<\/b> \u00a0 It is mostly pictures she painted of, yes, women holding things, which cumulate to an affirmation of women and to her wise, hopeful advice: \u201dIt is hard work to hold everything and it never ends. You may be exhausted from holding things and disheartened\u2026.\u00a0 But then there is the next moment and the next day\u2026 hold on.\u201d I love Maira Kalman, and her memoir, <\/span>Principles of Uncertainty<\/b><\/em> may be the best place to start, if you want more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I wish I could give\u00a0 Women Holding Things<\/em>\u00a0<\/b>to every strong woman that I know, and, though I would start with my two marvelous nieces [Big shout out to Sarah and Susan], I can\u2019t think of any women I know well who are not strong.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Action shot:\u00a0 Thinking about biking roads with ditch grasses, fields, and meadowlarks.<\/p><\/div>\n

But if \u201cholding something” were key, I remember maybe most Sister Margery Smith, Irish person and St. Kate\u2019s archivist extraordinaire, telling me, on my way out of her office to teach a\u00a0 five hour, Friday night class, that she thought, for all my name and tongue, that I might not be Irish.\u00a0 Well, that stopped me in my tracks.\u00a0 \u201cWhy not?\u201d I asked.\u00a0 Pause.\u00a0 \u201cYou apparently don\u2019t know how to hold a grudge,\u201d she said, somberly, \u201cbut I would be happy to teach you.\u201d\u00a0 I love and miss Sister Margery.\u00a0 She clearly belongs in the book.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

———————————————–<\/p>\n

Good news!\u00a0 Old dogs CAN learn new tricks!<\/b>\u00a0 I read a <\/span>NYT<\/b> report of a group of specialists,\u00a0 aging as I write, asking<\/span>\u00a0if\u00a0 oldies can still learn.\u00a0 My fun was being introduced to <\/span>\u201ccognitive neuroplasticity\u201d<\/b>, which I think means that\u00a0 the oldie’s\u00a0 lifetime of memories, experience, and learning are lurking in the brain, ready to contribute to to the oldie\u2019s thinking, and, when traveling changeable brain-paths, may result in different, unexpected [but probably exciting] conclusions. Though I can\u2019t find the word<\/span>s, I am sure I read this and know it anyhow, because, like other former faculty of Metro State or St. Kate\u2019s Weekend College, I know that \u201colders\u201d or \u201cpre-oldies\u201d\u00a0 make the most interesting, and the best ever, students, for just these reasons.<\/p>\n

(These are the words I did find.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201c[E]xperts in geriatrics say that people in their 80s who are active, engaged and have a <\/span>sense of purpose<\/span><\/a> can remain <\/span>productive and healthy<\/span><\/a> \u2014 and that wisdom and experience are important factors to consider\u2026.\u00a0 [In people who are active], experts say, the brain continues to evolve and some brain functions <\/span>can even improve<\/span><\/a> \u2014 a phenomenon experts call the \u2018<\/span>neuroplasticity of aging<\/span><\/a>.\u2019…\u00a0 \u2018Age,\u2019 he said, \u2018is not something to consider on its own.\u2019<\/span>\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0NYT, 11\/19\/2022)\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
\"\"

Action Shot: See ditch grasses in the rod-iron fence, sculpted by a prairie soul.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

I love the affirmation, FINALLY, that seeing things \u201cdifferently\u201d is an oldie plus. Take that, favorite brother-in-law Ralph.\u00a0 He and I were watching the boats in Tenants Harbor and, for some [?] reason, I mentioned that it was a good thing that the Irish were in Iceland before the Vikings, so that Brendan and his buds could teach the marauding Vikings how to sail the longer distances required to get them out of Ireland.\u00a0 My b-i-l stared at me and asked, somewhat snarkily, as I recall, \u201cDid you read that in a book or did you just make it up?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cSome of both.\u201d I said, winningly.\u00a0 I mean, isn\u2019t putting found facts \u201cin context\u201d what understanding life, then and now, is all about?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(Just to get you started thinking differently about our \u201cexplorer genes\u201d,<\/span> I suggest Tim Severin\u2019s The Brendan Voyage<\/b>, and more \u201csubtly\u201d <\/span>Yrsa Sigurdardottir\u2019s mystery, \u201cLast Rituals\u201d.)<\/b><\/h4>\n

But before you give facts a context, you have to find them, which brings to mind\u00a0<\/span>ever useful librarians, who, as society\u2019s fact finders, working together with fact users, are contemporary \u201cshape-shifters\u201d, who apply one or another theory or narrative or frame to the facts found.\u00a0 I love the thought of the librarian\u2019s power to find facts and frames to amend the argument, especially in this day of \u201ccancel culture\u201d on the left, \u201cban books\u201d on the right, and too much mis-information generally.\u00a0 <\/span>Let\u2019s hear it – in shushed tones – for librarians \u00a0 Yay, librarians!<\/b><\/p>\n

[<\/span>For more about\u00a0 warrior librarians, read <\/span>Stephen Marche\u2019s article in The Guardian<\/b><\/a> about the warrior librarians of Ukraine and<\/span> Joshua Hammar’s book, The Badass Librarians of Timbuktu<\/b><\/a>.]<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"\"

Action shot: Ignore the shadows and glare to almost see the penciled ditch grasses.\u00a0 \u00a0 [Diana Crane’s watercolor-ed ditch grasses had pink and cost too much.]\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/div>————————————————\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Good News!\u00a0 Santa got my email!\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Christmas in Seattle, 2022\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>To Santa,\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Re:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Very Good Mother\u2019s Christmas List, 1st\u00a0 edition<\/span><\/p>\n

All I want for Christmas is for you or an elf to do the following:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0Sort, toss and\/or file the piles of mail.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Sort, store, or arrange table tops [especially, but not only, at head of sofa].\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a03.\u00a0 A<\/span>rrange, artfully, scarves on the scarf rack.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a04.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Arrange or tidy, then dust or vacuum desk and duck-on-table tops.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a05.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Hang, or place differently, 4 pictures.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>If there is any confusion, I can help.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>From your very good mother<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>So far, three weeks later, disguising himself as Charlie in his awful athleisure pants, Santa has addressed the duck-on-table top, or 1\/2 of item 4.\u00a0 I am hopeful.<\/span><\/p>\n

————————————————-<\/p>\n

Very Good News.<\/strong>\u00a0 I love this thought [from Louis Jenkins’ poem, “Freeze”<\/strong>] :<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026\u201cEverything dies, we understand. But the mind of the\u00a0<\/span>observer,\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0which cannot imagine not imagining,\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0goes on.\u201d…<\/span><\/p>\n

I will keep on imagining so that I can keep on cheering up the people I meet, which is my long and still held purpose, no matter how lame I and my jokes [I prefer “small stories”] get.\u00a0 If you are reading this, and even if you’re not one of the enlightened twelve, that includes you.\u00a0 So with the longer life that having purpose supports,\u00a0 I will post again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here’s to a hopeful year<\/strong> of thinking and doing and laughing so hard you cant talk, of hating hate and figuring out some way you can make the world more livable, etc., etc., etc.\u00a0 I am about to write to the Seattle Times<\/strong> Book Editor about my current favorite mystery series or sites.\u00a0 [Well, she asked for suggestions.]\u00a0\u00a0Happy New Year to all, from Seattle, where it is 47 degrees and raining.<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[I like to think these news items are a bit like\u00a0Louis Jenkins’ “small stories”, without his poetic chops.] Good News, finally!\u00a0Charlie and I both had COVID and\u00a0 were quarantined together for ten days\u00a0in my studio apartment of about 400 square … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2853"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2853"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2871,"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2853\/revisions\/2871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/roseledgebooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}