Tuesday, July 12, 2016

what's happening here

My friend Karen, the Aging Hippie who has been working for the Peace Corps in South Africa, has finished her stint and is back home in California, and on Sunday we had an hour long messaging conversation. So nice. We spent the first twenty minutes talking about her and how she was fitting back into life in the land of plenty, and then she wrote: "Tell me about you! What are you thinking? Planning? Doing? Worrying about?"

I tried to explain to her about the dire state of the country since the referendum vote. And how I was feeling about it: that it's like being glued to a dystopian daily soap. One of my brothers rang me on holiday because he was so upset. One of my sisters and the other brother emailed to ask if I had our Irish grandmother's birth certificate, because apparently we are all entitled to apply for an Irish passport and stay in the EU.

It would solve nothing. We still live here in this xenophobic country with politicians who lie, and don't know the meaning of the word "planning," in a country whose future is uncertain, heading in a direction which I find abhorrent.

The Aging Hippie and I talk politics a lot - which you would expect from two people who met on a peace vigil -  but I don't think you come here for that.

So, here are the other things I am thinking about -

1/ I am wondering why two of my wigwams of sweet peas are loving this constant rain and warm temperatures, and why two wigwams - twelve plants each - have died.

2/ I'm wondering if my cosmos seedlings, nurtured lovingly in their pots since I planted the seeds, will survive the onslaught of the plague of slugs and snails encouraged by the warm winter and the current constant rain

3/ I'm still waiting to hear whether the BBC like my sitcom

4/ I'm practising As Time Goes By and Aint Misbehavin' everyday on my sax because it's Mel's wedding on Sunday (where I'm playing)

5/ I'm watching the Amazon sales rankings of Plotting for Beginners and Plotting for Grown-ups because Jane (co-author) has a very popular book out and people who want to read more of her stuff are turning to the Plotting books, even though they are rather different in character

6/ I am washing sleeping bags in the bath on days when it is not raining and I can hang them outside to dry

7/ I'm working out my plan of action for if the Beeb doesn't like my sitcom

8/ I'm knitting a jumper for Cece



and I can't have a pic here of Cece and not have one of Lux, So here it is - 



9/ I'm catching up with all the episodes of Neighbours I missed while I was on holiday (scorn my lowlife taste if you like, but in these awful times, twenty minutes of escapism a day hurts no-one)

10/ I'm wondering what novel to read next. I just read On the Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin and loved it, and then The Ties that Bind by Kent Haruf and didn't love it because it was so unhappy, even though the writing was wonderful. I have one more of his to read and then I'll have read them all. Our Souls at Night is my favourite, and then the Plainsong trilogy. 

11/ I am working out what I can do that is positive, to help to mend divisions and work for social justice. It might be volunteering to help asylum seekers...it might be something else.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

My favourite blogger. Glad you are still writing for us. Just FYI

Ana

Sue Hepworth said...

That's so encouraging! Thank you.