Lovers in a Dangerous Time

I crashed a wedding the other day.  I've never crashed a wedding before, but these are weird times and weird things are bound to happen.  

I was going on a walk just for fun, as opposed to braving the elements to do some errands.  Due to frigid temperatures and super-slippery sidewalks, it had been more than a week since I'd walked for the sheer joy of it.  The sun shone brightly after many grey days as the temperature climbed up to three degrees C.  It was a small and welcome blessing in the middle of a c-19 winter.  

I came upon the wedding after an hour or so of easy walking.  A handful of people were gathered on the sidewalk gazing upward at the house in front of them.  I followed their collective gaze to the second story balcony and spied a young couple holding hands and decked out in wedding attire.  A woman wedding officiator stood behind them.  I had arrived just as the ceremony was beginning.

I wondered if the ceremony had been originally scheduled for that day, because it was the first time in a while that it was warm enough to have an outdoor wedding in reasonable comfort.  It seemed as if  Mother Nature herself was giving a gift of a mild mid-winter day for their nuptials.  It also coincided with the first new moon of the new year.  It's hard to say whether that was deliberately planned or just another bit of serendipity, but whatever the case may be, it was an auspicious day to tie the knot.

I stuck around for a while to soak up the good vibes.   I kept my distance of course, as did the small group of wedding guests.  Everyone was welcoming and didn't make me feel as if I was butting in where I didn't belong.  The officiator blessed the young couple and encouraged them on their path through life together.  As I listened to her wise words I could feel tears welling up in my eyes.  Soon the tears were flowing freely.  That really surprised me, because I've never cried at a wedding before, even for family and close friends.  But there I was shedding tears for people I'd never met.  

My emotional response was a release of bottled up tension and stress created by life in the covid-19 era.  Fortunately I was crying for good and happy reasons, and not out of sadness or despair.  The sweet scene of togetherness amid all the physical separation of the last ten months brought out the best in me.  It was great to see people celebrating love, despite all the restrictions placed on gatherings for even the best reasons.  It felt like a big, fat fuck you covid-19!  And I loved it.

I'm grateful to that young couple and their friends for allowing me to be part of their special day.  And attending a wedding on the first new moon of the new year didn't go unnoticed by this sign-seeking magical thinker.  It bode well for me and everyone else who was there, even though they may not have been aware of it.  Finding love and beauty in the midst of barely-contained chaos is spiritual gold.  

Those two young lovers gave me a gift.  If it weren't for the tough times we're going through I wouldn't have chanced upon that happy occasion and cried tears of joy for two people I didn't know.  And that led me to wonder...  Is it possible that covid-19 is making me a better person?  Could be.  Like I said - weird things are happening.  

So mote it be.

- g.p.

Make Hats Great Again

All you really need in life is some fresh water, a good hat, and a really good pair of shoes.

- Shirley MacLaine

I bought myself a new hat.  I didn't need one - I have quite a few already.  But a jaunty cap always lifts my spirits, and my spirits have needed a lot of lifting lately.  Every so often I'll have a bad day for no discernable reason.  When that happens I know I'm suffering from covid fatigue, which is rather ironic, because fatigue is one of the early symptoms of covid-19.  

Come to think of it, a day doesn't go by when I don't have one of the numerous signs of the onset of c-19.  Who doesn't get a headache, or dry cough, or a runny nose every now and then? Especially in the winter? Am I supposed to worry when I go for a walk in the chilly winter air and get the sniffles?  Even though I'm still in relatively good shape, I'm weary of the shit show that the whole world is starring in. 

So I bought a bright red, hippy-happy hat.  But please know that it's not one of those red caps that ignorant rioters wear to proclaim their allegiance to a deranged, deluded megalomaniac.  My red hat restores a sense of balance for me when I'm feeling out of sorts.  It's bright and joyful, and I'd like to think other people enjoy seeing a flash of colour during the long, cold, dark days of winter as well.

That's why I'm sharing my hat with you now - in a number of guises and adorning faces that don't really need enhancement - but make me smile when I look at them wearing my hat.  I hope they make you smile, too.

Here's praying that 2021 has happier times and hats in store for us all.  

Blessed be.

- g.p.

I have a joke to share with you.  It was going around almost four decades ago with the rise of radical feminism and for some reason it's on my mind lately.  That's probably because I blame the hard times the world is going through on patriarchy.  In fact, I pretty much blame patriarchy for most of the ills that have plagued humanity for the last five thousand years.  I know that's sexist of me, but there are some compelling arguments for my case.  Patriarchy represents the lust for power and domination of the earth and women.  It's power over rather than power from within.  

But I'm not here to re-hash the same old stuff I've been complaining about on this little web of mine for more than a decade now.  Today I'm writing a joke that reminds me of being young, righteously angry, recognising my divinity and embracing the power of sisterhood.  It's not deep, and not even that funny.  But it made me laugh long ago, and remembering it now still puts a little grin on my face.  Which means there is a basic truth in it, despite its sexism.  So here it is...

Q:  What would the world be like if there were no men?

A:  No war and lots of fat, happy women.

That's it.  That's all I wanted to say.  Have a nice day.

- g.p. 

Kamala Karma

A goddess has been elected vice president of the U.S.A.  Kamala Harris triumphed over vile racism and misogyny as she campaigned alongside presidential candidate Joe Biden.  Her bravery and perseverance in the face of extreme asperity is nothing less than heroic.  

Kamala means lotus in Hindi, the language of her Indian-born mother.  The lotus is a sacred flower in Hinduism and Buddhism because it grows and blooms out of muddy, murky waters.             

Kamala Harris is the perfect embodiment of the lotus.  She emerged victorious after The U.S. - and indeed the entire world - endured four years of living in the muddy trenches of Trump's lies, ill will, and ignorance.  And she survived a mud-slinging campaign with grace and dignity, attributes which have been seriously missing in the outgoing president.                                                                    

Kamala represents all women, race and religion notwithstanding.  She is the daughter of a Black father and Asian mother and married to a Jew.  She is Everywoman.  Her perceived privilege of class is the result of being educated - a right which should be available to everyone.                                                                                                                                  

What celestial committee consorted to elect this woman of divine proportions?  The mere facts of her remarkable story are mythic.   She is beautiful, brilliant, accomplished, and compassionate.  Kamala moves me and makes me proud to be a woman.   

For four years the world has been forced to watch a shit show in which Trump played the villain.  Enter our heroine Kamala Harris, dea ex machina and the stuff of Trump's nightmares - an educated woman of colour in a position of power.  Like the fierce Hindu goddess Kali, she is a destroyer of demons.  

The lotus has risen to the top of the mud heap while the world breathes a collective sigh of relief.  A new era is at hand.  It won't be easy for her, but Kamala has proven that's she's got what it takes to surmount whatever challenges come her way.  Her story is a reminder of that pithy maxim - No mud, no lotus.                                

Namaste.                                                                                    - g.p.  

Smilin' Through

If you can't beat 'em - join 'em.  And that's exactly what I've done.  After six months of refusing to wear a designer face mask, I've given up and given in.  I hate wearing them of course - who doesn't?  But if I'm going to have mini-anxiety attacks brought on by shallow breathing because a swath of cloth is pressed against my mouth and nose, while my glasses fog up so that I can't see, I might as well be wearing something that looks better than a piece of ugly tissue hiding half my face.  So I bought a handmade facemask in my favourite colours.     

 Up until now I hadn't purchased a permanent facemask because I hoped it would make me feel as if this shit show we're going through wouldn't last long enough to warrant the expense.  Well, I was wrong.  Boy, was I wrong. 

And if that weren't enough to convert me, I don't like the same, nondescript, sterile appearance of the disposable masks.  When you can't tell who's behind the mask almost all individuality disappears.  Because as oppressive and depressing as these times may be, at least  we're not living in communist China during the Mao regime.                                                                        

Most of all, however, I miss seeing people who return my smiles.  But maybe they are.  Maybe strangers are smiling at me the way I'm smiling at them beneath the mask.  We need good will more than ever now, and  we shouldn't have to hide it.  So that's why I'll keep wearing my mask when I should, and smile and breathe all the while.  So mote it be. 

- g.p.

Live and Learn

old  adjective
1. having lived for a long time; no longer young
2. belonging only or chiefly to the past; former or previous                                                                     


A few of my friends and I were celebrating one of our birthdays.  Gayle, the friend whose birthday we were toasting, has just turned an age that marks another decade. It's one of those birthdays that ends in zero.  That's time for pause for most people, and becomes even more noteworthy the older one gets. 
Aging is not for the faint-hearted.   If turning an age as young as thirty causes someone an existential crisis, they must be living their lives in constant fear, because every sunrise makes them another day older,  although clearly not any wiser.  Hopefully that changes with the passing of time.
Fearing birthdays that end in zero is not one of my problems, I'm glad to say.  Regular readers of this little web of mine know that I mark my age in days, and not just years. Every day is a diaversary.  So for someone like me it makes annual celebrations extra special since they happen only once a year.  And when it's a big-0 birthday, which is the kind of birthday my friend Gayle is having, it's cause for even more merrymaking, because it won't be happening for another ten years.
Though I won't divulge more details, most people would acknowledge that a memorable birthday like Gayle's has officially entered into the "old" category, (Of course, the younger and stupider one is, one is "old" at a relatively young age.  You know, like, thirty-three is, like, so old.) 

Gayle is the oldest of the four of us that got together to eat, drink and be merry, but none of us is young or even middle-aged anymore.  Although we are by no means stooped and doddering, I used the word "old" to describe our group as we sat around and talked about life and the number of birthdays we've accumulated. 
"No, no.  We're not old!" one of my friends exclaimed.  I understood why she responded as she did, because the adjective old applied to human beings has distinctly pejorative connotations.  When I judiciously describe someone as old, including myself, it's usually (but not always, depending on the person) referring to the number of years they've lived, and not their appearance or demeanour.  Check out the first meaning of the adjective old at the beginning of this blurb.  There's nothing disparaging about having lived a long time.  In fact, it can be a good thing, depending on the amount of experience and wisdom one has acquired, and of course, one's physical condition.

Being old is unfortunately equated with loss of vigour and beauty.  Sure, it happens to everyone.  But why not enjoy the slower pace of life and a different kind of beauty which happens with living longer?  The later years of life are sometimes described as the "sunset years."  Though there is an inherent sadness in sunsets that presage the arrival of the dark, I love a splendid sunset.  As the sun sinks lower on the horizon, its colours and those of the surrounding sky become deeper and more vivid.  Old and dying trees are still admired for their gnarled, twisted forms and the striking silhouettes they make.  And the ruins of ancient, crumbling buildings all over the world are highly regarded tourist attractions, admired for their derelict beauty.  Beauty is not just the purview of youth.
And what about the wisdom and experience that come with age?  That's surely one of the best things about growing older; and I do mean growing older.  If you're going to reach old age, it's better to grow rather than decline while you're getting there.
Wisdom is acquired by learning from experience.  Wisdom is earned.  One of the attributes of the Snake as a spirit animal is wisdom, because it continues to grow until the day it dies. (Animals that grow all their lives are called indeterminate growers.)  Another animal that symbolises wisdom is the Tortoise/Turtle, because it's the longest living animal on the planet.  And the reason it lives so long is because it takes it's own sweet time travelling through life.  

But make no mistake, just because someone is old doesn't mean they're wise.  There are a lot of old coots out there who have spent a lifetime honing their ignorant, curmudgeonly ways.  That's certainly not the case with my friend Gayle, however.  At her birthday celebration she proudly declared her intention to honour her very special day and make the most of the coming decade.  Way to go girl!      
With each passing year (and day - happy diaversary everyone!) I appreciate the clever, pithy words of George Bernard Shaw more and more - Youth is wasted on the young.  There's no better time for advancing than in one's advanced years.  Growing old is the surest way to stay forever young.
- g.p.

Something for Everyone

Hey there Pig!

 

Happy 24,000th Diaversary! 

 

 

Enjoy your 24s!

Every day is a diaversary!

 

and for everyone else...

 

Happy Home & Native Land Day!

 

- g.p.