Mid-Summer Waning Garlic Moon
“God has no religion.” – Mahatma Gandhi
If there is one, Gandhi has it right.
Another day of Latin. This stuff, at least right now, is hard. It requires holding several different ideas in the head all at one time, then juggling them to see how they all fit together. Here are as many of those things as I can name: word meanings in Latin and English (often multiple), noun declensions (usually multiple), verb conjugations, participle forms, adverbs, adjectives, conjunctions, clause types, infinitives, word order (often shuffled in poetry for metric purposes. ovid is poetry.), flow of the narrative, many different grammatical rules and exceptions. They float in the air like bubbles over a cartoon character’s head, as if, say, Dilbert couldn’t figure out what to say until he mixed and matched the diverse bubbles into a sensible sentence.
On the other hand, at times I’m able to do it, to switch the balls in mid-air and see the sequence fall into place, a sentence emerging from what James Joyce or William James called the “blooming, buzzing confusion.” Then, it’s sweet.
Took Mark down to the Anoka County Work Force center for a morning’s class on resumes. He seems calmer now, less agitated.
Kate’s in pain because she has to go off all her non-steroidal anti-inflammatories for 5 days before her surgery. This leaves her arthritic joints free to express themselves, especially in her hip, neck and hands. This Thursday, S-Day, will find her with a second new hip, a procedure that should reduce her suffering quite a bit by relieving the hip pain and making her body mechanics better. I’m glad she’s getting the new hip.
