Imbolc Valentine Moon
Scott got reservations at David Fong’s, a long time Chinese restaurant in Bloomington. David Fong, Yin’s brother, started a chow mein takeout on the same location about 50 years ago. This was eating in a Chinese restaurant on Chinese New Year’s, not eating a New Year meal. The food was very good, especially since Scott came complete with recommendations from Yin as to what we would like. Handy.
Frank, Warren, Tom, Scott and I were there. We shared our steak kow, mongolian beef, lo mein, honey crusted walnut shrimp, pot stickers and a crumbly chicken dish whose name I can’t recall. You put the chicken in a lettuce leaf, sort of like a taco. All of them were tasty.
We spent a lot of time talking about grandkids. Scott and I had a similar experience of five-year old grand-daughters who decided we were not “real” grandpop’s because we were not the biological father of their parent. As with Ruth, this has passed in Scott’s case, too.
Tom has set up an intriguing question for our February 17th meeting: What does it mean to be a male in our culture? He has also asked that we bring three images of men that will start off our conversation. I’ve got a few posted here, but as I’ve gone hunting for images it made me wonder if there is a book called the male image in art. Lots of such books for females, many of nudes, but of men? A quick google search in the books section shows none. Probably are some, but that they’re not obvious says something.
Another thought that occurred to me, and it relates to third phase life for men, is this, what is our image of a man at home? That is, beyond the guy with the fly-rod, golf club, barca-lounger, or woodshop. And these are based on the silly, even pernicious idea of third phase life for men as the replacement of work hours with a favorite leisure activity.
With no positive image of a man at home it’s difficult to understand how to be at home when one has left traditional work life behind.