Easy Beauty in Everyday Ramblings

I was listening to this discussion last week about easy beauty and difficult beauty. I took this picture last weekend in a front garden that Mrs. Sherlock and I visit about three or four times a year across the river. The retired schoolteacher gardener had some gorgeous purple dahlias planted up against these stunning late roses. Easy, breathtaking beauty.

No walk this weekend. We have fires and heat and scary wind, and the air quality is not good. Not as bad as two years ago and we are all so glad the fires came late this season. People are losing homes and that is always sad.

Mrs. Sherlock had to cancel her hiking trip to Eastern Oregon for this coming week because of the fires. I think we are walking on Thursday.

It has been an odd week for me, a reflective one.

I was named after Queen Elizabeth. I was a surprise pregnancy, my mother was 40 in 1953, and they had the boy they wanted, and my two older sisters were plenty of girl energy. I think also by that time my mother was already living in a kind of made-up world of fantasy where princesses unexpectedly became queens and Jackie, and John Kennedy were on the horizon.

There were movie stars in our new neighborhood. They were moving the family from Connecticut to Southern California when I was conceived.

She was a romantic and believed in the power of art (and beauty), literature and fashion and astrology, sophistication, and wit and… the coronation was a big deal even over here in America.

All my siblings have/had fabulous imaginations. I was sort of shocked to realize that a majority of writers I have met throughout the years don’t. It became a thing with Mr. Finch and me. His writing was technically brilliant, he knew all the things but the subject matter he chose to write about was boring. When he would write about historical things that worked. Or natural world things. Come to think about this, I also felt this way about my beloved ex-husband. Good guy. Boring.

Thanks Mom.

Mr. Finch in real life was not boring. He created and attracted drama. So, I guess that was a step up. A handsome dissipated smart man that came from substantial wealth. Narcissistic too.

I think it was more my mother’s idea of Elizabeth, the glamour, the empowerment, the agency she had, than Elizabeth herself. Though my mother also liked the idea of loyalty and service.

So, I have been thoughtful about the Queen’s life and mine.

This afternoon is the old man’s book club. We are supposed to read something we have written. I have a whimsical poem I wrote back in the day called “Family History” that seems appropriate somehow.

I have been doing League stuff. Pretty much immersed in the ballot measure to change our city form of government. Democracy is sure messy. There have been some contentious reply all’s going on. Strong feelings are being expressed.

There is so much we need to change and fix on a national level, and I can see the path will not be easy. Our democracy needs some heavy shoring up at the same time we are experiencing the climate crisis and oh yeah, the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis it engendered.

For distraction I have been reading the Rook Files trilogy by Daniel O’Malley. It took me a little while to get into the first book but once I locked in, the read has been great fun. If you like Charlaine Harris, (I love her books) or enjoyed Torchwood, the Welsh spin off from Doctor Who, you will love these books. Let’s just say, lots of unexpected things occur.

I finished watching Grantchester and have moved from Cambridge to Oxford and am watching Lewis. I haven’t locked into The Rings of Power yet though I have watched the first episode and a bit of the second. Maybe once they get the world building out of the way…

May your air quality be better than ours and your distraction rich and fulfilling.

I have some candidate questions for November to review and classes to prepare. Sorry, I am behind on notes. Expect a handful soon.

Last updated September 11, 2022