The meaning of a poem is the outcome of a dialogue between the words on
the page and the particular person who happens to be reading it. The
interpretation can only be false if the reader does not know the
contemporary meaning of the words. -W.H. Auden, poet
(1907-1973)
Up at...
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The poets Horace, Virgil, and Varius at the house of Maecenas
Art: Charles Francois Jalabert (1819-1901)
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My very dear Corinne and Patrick: I am so very overdue with this reply to your New Year's Eve message and photos. As you say, lots of reasons though no excuses. Reasons include a recent visit from Sandy and her husband, David, and a bout of illness. The latter is still not fully resolved. Though not fundamentally serious (I hope!), it's been quite debilitating. Started about 10 days ago with quickly escalating sinus headache, sore throat, sniffles and sneezes. I left work on a Wednesday afternoon, and did not return for almost a week. When I got back last Tuesday morning, there was your package, with rupee notes, adapter and calendar from India. I'm really delighted by the latter -- thank you so much! There was an existing "calendar gap" on my wall, which it will fill.
Back to my surpassingly interesting tale of illness (wink) . . . I was under the mistaken impression that I was on the mend, but relapsed on Friday and left work in the afternoon. Fully expected to return on Saturday morning (yesterday), which I did, partly due to concern about staffing, as it is always thin on Saturdays anyway, and I was scheduled to close. But I felt quite crappy, and against odds, was able to find someone to come in from 2-6. So I went to Mum's (not far away), where there was not only a comfortable and warm place to crash, but TLC available as well. Eventually stumbled home for the evening . . . . Now easing my way into a new day, still a bit shaky but capable of sitting up in bed with my laptop!
Work has been a bit challenging lately, in all sorts of ways, which I don't have the stamina to recount here. Some are particular to me and to Dunbar, others are broader in scope. I frequently consider the idea of retiring, which I could do anytime. But I am of a cautious bent and not quite ready to discount the financial implications (I am almost exactly 2.5 years from "Earliest Unreduced"). Meanwhile, I am reassured by my unwavering belief that, despite difficulties and
frustrations in my current situation, public libraries have real and enduring social value (cue violin music).
One of my strategies for getting through the time between now and retirement is to plan a "big trip" each year. For 2016, it was going to be Brazil (with my friend Elaine), but now it isn't, for various practical reasons. I'm not especially disappointed -- it's more of a postponement than an abandonment-of-the-idea. Instead, there is now the possibility of Scotland. There are places there (Iona, Orkney) that Mum would like to visit. She hasn't directly asked me to take her, and in fact, is a little apprehensive about the prospect, given her age and health. But her health is quite good actually (she is probably in better shape than me, and she managed the Camino last year!) and while it is true that she is 85, that fact simply -- in my view -- indicates that we should go ASAP. So I've been reading up, doing some tentative planning, and getting quite fired up about the idea (possible time frame: September).
In other news, as I mentioned above, Sandy and David were here a couple
of weeks ago -- on their way from snowy Ottawa to a sunny sojourn in San
Diego (sans kids, Anna and Paul, who are now 24 and 21 respectively -- hard to believe!) They stopped in Vancouver for a few days, and we managed to spend quite a bit of time together, with long walks (False Creek, Stanley Park), dinners etc. Good to catch up! One of the highlights was a family gathering at Mum's on Saturday night, which went well, despite some drama involving Karen. She had flown up to Yellowknife on Thursday with a team from work (to give some kind of presentation, I think) but became quite sick. Her malaise included severe vertigo, and she was so disabled by it that her boss had to call an ambulance to take her to emergency on the Friday morning.
She wasn't able to catch their scheduled flight home later that day, but the medical professionals were able to sort her out sufficiently so that she was able to catch a 6 a.m. flight back to Vancouver on Saturday morning. (And fortunately, one of her co-workers had stayed behind with her, so she had some practical and moral support.) She nobly struggled over to Mum's in the evening, but spent most of the time horizontal. Of course, she was never able to attend the work presentation in Yellowknife, so all of that stress was really for nothing (seems like a textbook case of insult added to injury.)
Otherwise, I am continuing with my decluttering efforts, which been going on for months -- rather like trying to roll a boulder up a hill. It's a key step in my broader plan for renovations and home improvements (bathroom makeover, new kitchen sink and cabinets, etc.) I must say, I rather dread the chaos anddisruption that will inevitably be involved -- likely a contributory factor in the difficulty that I'm having building momentum for these endeavours.
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