dual personalities

Another busy week full of dentistry (I’ll spare you that) and driving. Yesterday I took my car in for service, which is quite a production, since the dealer is about two hours away. On the way there, I drove through a weird white world of snow and fog.

I managed to take a couple of photos without stopping (that’s not like texting and driving, is it?).

Notice the arty rear view mirror shot. By the time I drove home, the weather had cleared, although that brought out the police, who lay in wait for unwary old ladies like me.  I got caught in a speed trap. I had begun — about 30 feet early — to accelerate in anticipation of leaving a village speed zone (30 mph) and entering the highway (55 mph).

Actually, the nice young policeman, who pulled me over, was quite apologetic, saying that his sergeant insisted that everyone get ticketed so he had no choice. He then told me how to get the fine reduced. I did not slap him.

Well, I am philosophical and take that lapse in judgment as a warning to be careful as I drive across country to Louisville, KY next week! I don’t feel particularly ready for this trip, but take solace in these wise words from a wonderful memoir I just finished reading about Merrill’s Marauders in Burma during WWII:

For nothing could have been better calculated than that experience to bring home to me a lesson that has to be learned…It is this. Being unready and ill-equipped is what you have to expect in life. It is the universal predicament. It is your lot as a human being to lack what it takes. Circumstances are seldom right. You never have the capacities, the strength, the wisdom, the virtue you ought to have. You must always make do with less than you need in a situation vastly different from what you would have chosen as appropriate for your special endowments.

Charlton Ogburn, Jr. The Marauders, Fawcett, 1956: 18.

In the meantime, I am preparing for Easter. Son #2 arrives today, so there will be four of us to celebrate. Easter is early this year and it seems to have caught me by surprise. The stores have been full of candy and bunnies for weeks, and I’ve overindulged in pastel colored M&Ms, but it has not put me in an Easter frame of mind.  I was surprised last night to realize that there have been no Easter movies on TV at all, at least not that I’ve noticed, and I flip channels every night, looking in vain for something to watch. There’s nothing on Netflix or Amazon video either. What’s the idea?

I guess we’re on our own, so remember Psalm 62: “Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be moved.”

*Curtis Mayfield, “People, Get Ready!”

Palm Sunday is upon us and Easter just next week.  I try to take a restrained approach to the holiday. I have a few decorations on the table, and son #1 and I did dress up our evening (no sugar added) cocoa last night, because we suddenly developed a burning desire to see whether Peeps float in whipped cream — but I draw the line there.

After a root canal yesterday, I inclined toward hysteria by evening. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!

[By the way, Peeps do float. I hadn’t had one in years. They’re grossly sweet and sugary, but not in a nice, jellybean way. I can’t recommend the Peep addition to evening cocoa.]

Let’s get back to what’s important: Palm Sunday, the start of Easter week. Tomorrow our church will hold a special breakfast, after which the congregation will process around the village green, singing hymns and waving palms before attending church. Being by temperament disinclined to participate in reenactments, we will arrive in time for the service. We’re not snobs,  just self-conscious and averse to walking around in the cold.

In case any of you also prefer inside activities, you might try looking at depictions of the entry into Jerusalem. Take this slightly Cubist looking fresco at San Baudelio de Berlanga in Spain that dates to c. 1125. I love everything about it.

Even better is Giotto’s lively fresco, c. 1305. There’s so much to love about this painting; the sweet-faced donkey; the people climbing the trees to see better or gather palms; the lady(?) in the front right of the painting with her head covered; the man right above her with the giant sleeve, and the attempt at perspective. The colors are great, too.

I also really like Hippolyte Flandrin’s 1842 painting, although the figures seem stiff and Jesus isn’t looking at anyone. One wonders whether he will see the baby being held up to him on the right.

As for literature, G.K. Chesterton’s The Donkey makes a very nice verse accompaniment.