Angels? in Everyday Ramblings

This is a Euonymus japonicus ‘Silver Queen’, or that is my best guess. I started reading this book, The Grove, A Nature Odyssey in 19 ½ Front Gardens and the first plant the author recognizes after being “plant blind” his whole life is this shrub. Or a variation of…

I read the first page and started looking up pictures of plants he mentions, and I am like, hey, I know one of them is nearby, so I went looking. I found two different varieties in a four-block radius. Well hello plant I have been looking at for over 13 years. Duh.

The common names of plants are also appealing because they are wonderful to sprinkle into poems… I mean who can resist hazel tuft or honesty, elm celandine and charlock?

Speaking of poems, I read one to my class on Friday by Czeslaw Milosz called On Angels that I chose because I thought it was beautiful to contemplate… the smell of apples at the end of the day when the light makes the orchards magic… and Mrs. Sherlock had a strong reaction to even the idea of angels.

I have known her way longer than I did not know the name of the shrub up there and I had no idea she had an implicit bias against angels. (She used the implicit bias term yesterday when we were walking and talking about her relationship with the idea of angels.)

Later, another of my students emailed me to say that she got what I was saying about all the mysteries that we encounter in our lives that we use the term angels to describe.

Mrs. Sherlock paid to have her horoscope read last week. She pulls a tarot card every morning. She has a beautiful deck made with famous paintings she got at a well-known art museum on the East Coast. She does this whacko cult breathing practice and free dance thing with a Jewish friend of hers, but oh baby, don’t get her started on angels. She says he can’t stand people that have angels all over their houses.

She said she didn’t realize she had such strong feelings about this. It might have something to do with her training as a nurse, or her tangential Catholicism growing up. I mentioned that she clearly had not had a lot of exposure to poetry. There are angels coming out of the seams in the world of poetry.

But she has had a lot of exposure through art. Her response, like the meaning of angels themselves, is a mystery.

Wings of Desire is one of my favorite movies ever. I should watch it again.

I did find a Billy Collins poem called Questions About Angels that I think she will enjoy after we got home from our walk.

It was cold and dry and clear yesterday. It was that way on Friday too, but the roofers were working on my building, and they had a gas-powered generator (as well as an old microwave to heat up drinks and lunch) right outside my windows all darn day. They were throwing stuff off the roof all day as well. They should be finished by mid-week, and they are, blessedly not here this weekend.

The cats and I went to the vet last week. Diego needs bloodwork every six months, and they told me Carlo was due for a vaccine. Only it turns out I didn’t need to bring him in at all. He got his ears cleaned and we all survived. I talked to the vet about Diego’s clinginess. She said she would research some calming supplements and let me know tomorrow.

When I told my class this, they suggested that maybe it is not Diego who needs the supplements, maybe it is me with the problem. :) That I might just need to chill you know, so he can sprawl across me and stay warm and safe. Ha.

I was tired yesterday afternoon and I practiced that. A nap with Diego on my chest. This next week will be a good one to practice some more as all the extra-curricular activities are on hold for the holidays.

This next week I am teaching on the theme of how to cultivate a sense of well-being. A good opportunity to practice what I preach.

Last updated December 18, 2022