The Future (Simon Lynge)

I have plans tonight with Sarah.  Backstory:

I posted a few months ago that I had started watching the TV show Brothers & Sisters, which I hadn't seen on its initial run (2006-2011).  It was five seasons (!), and starred Sally Field (I had just finished reading her memoir, which was the motivating factor), and Calista Flockhart (who I adored in Ally McBeal).  Rob Lowe (who I didn't find out about until later) was the proverbial icing.  I also love that thirtysomething people are involved (Ken Olin and Patricia Wettig!), and that the atmospheric music is sooooo Six Feet Under (plus the soundtrack introduced me to so many wonderful songs, this title song just one example... :-)

Scary that The Walkers are so much like our family (or our family is much like theirs).  I see myself in Nora (kind, generous and socially-conscious, with more than a touch of power and control issues), my Sarah is mostly their Sarah with a bit of Kitty thrown in (business-savvy, divorced mother), Rob is Kevin (the gay lawyer, who does a kick*ss velociraptor imitation) and Eric is Justin (baby of the family, battled addiction issues but cleaned up well).  They drink a lot (pot, meet kettle!), and they cannot keep a secret at all (one tells another, and it eventually makes its way back around to whoever shared their deep darks, only to find it's all out in the open).  Ack!

When I began watching, I had a series of epiphanies with each episode, which made me love my children even more.  Halfway through the first season, though, it turned into a soap-opera-ish Perils of Pauline, with each episode ending on the proverbial cliffhanger (SPOILER ALERTS:  oh no, the dad was having an affair for decades, and they incorporate her into the family!; oh no, the family business is going into bankruptcy!; oh no, the dad had a child with another woman (not the mistress, but someone else!); oh no, one of the daughters has cancer!; oh no, the gay couple's surrogate had a miscarriage!... or did she?!?  Oh god, it's been a sh*tshow, but based on love and concern, of course.

I got Sarah hooked but, when it appeared to have "jumped the shark" early in the series, I swore that I was going to just quit watching... but Sarah convinced me to keep at it, and I agreed.  Five seasons seemed daunting, but I ate it like an elephant, one bite at a time.  We've each kept up with it in our separate homes, a few episodes apart, sometimes she's ahead, sometimes I am.

Season 5 (the last one, thankyoujesus) has 22 episodes, and it was Sarah's idea for us each to stop at the end of 20, and we would watch the last two together (*really* together, at her house).  And that's what's happening tonight.  I will spring for sushi and, in the spirit of the over-indulgent Walkers, there *will* be wine!  I can't wait to finally pull the plug, but I must admit I'm going to miss them... 💔

P.S.  This picture is hilarious, and takes me right back to our early days (May 1991!) of joyful chaos (ahem, why was Eric wearing an Indian headdress to Tom's - who Chico is holding - baptism, at which he and I were the godparents of Dan and Kai's little guy, adopted from Peru?!?), Rob yawning, Sarah grimacing.  And just look at us now (above).  Aren't we lucky and blessed?... 💖

NR:  The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix (I chose this for Wednesday's book club Zoom meeting!)

SONG:  The Future by Simon Lynge

BOOK:  How to Write Compelling Stories from Family History by Annette Gendler

POEM:  Slowly but Surely by Mario Benedetti

The future's coming slowly

slowly

but surely

right now it's hidden beyond

the surly clouds

and some still invisible

nimble heights

beyond the thunder's roar

and the spider's web

it's taking its time

like a determined flower

keeping track of the sun

perhaps that's why

daily life

prepares to greet it

settling exorbitant debts

opening new chapters in memory

but the future's

in no hurry

it's coming

slowly

finally bringing relief

bread for the hungry

battered angles

faithful swallows

slow

but not half-hearted

neither smug

nor a spoilsport

it's simply

coming

with its sharpened blade

and weighing scales

inquiring first

about our dreams

then our homelands

our latent memories

and our newborns

slowly

the future's coming

with its mondays and marches

its clenched fists and dark-ringed eyes and projects

slowly but swiftly

like a dim

still unnamed star

convalescent and slow

sheepish

proud

so very modest

that well-versed future we're shaping

we

and chance

but more and more we

less and less chance.

QUOTE:  “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

All That Matters (Todd Snider)

"These are the times that try [wo]men's souls" ~ Thomas Paine

Lots going on these days, both locally and globally, such that we are challenged to think realistically as well as wax optimistically - I have always been a firm believer in the Power of Positive Thinking (no duh, Susan!) and I am intentioning my patootie off right now... :-)

First of all, let's talk about this hurricane season - we've been unbelievably lucky the last few years... and it's natural to give in to the mindset of "oh well, they had to catch up with us sometime". I beg to differ - I have wished strongly for Fay, Gustav and Hanna to present as near-misses... and they have. Upcoming Ike may be more of a challenge... but I'm not giving up (my money's on the southernmost track on the computer model) - obviously, we are taking this day by day... and there is a fine line between anxiety and preparation.

We're fairly well-stocked with canned goods, water and non-perishables (cereal bars, granola bars, crackers, etc.) - I'll stop on the way home and fill up the car with gas and get cash from the ATM. The next few days will determine whether or not we put up the hurricane shutters and take down the windchimes (ugh) - in the meantime, thoughts/prayers/purple candles are much appreciated... <3

And then... there's the election coming up in November - I'm an Obama woman (another no duh). This deserves a whole other post but, scratching the surface, I am trying not to be annoyed that McCain's VP choice is just so *insulting* to women - how dare he think he can play the gender trump card... and females all over the country will fall for the bait and switch and ignore the fact Palin is so staunchly conservative. My friend Judi sent me this YouTube link - love it!

Storms on the horizon indeed - as my dear Todd Snider sings:

"Out in the rain, lost as I was

I said "You think it'll ever stop"

You said "It always does"

SONG: All That Matters by Todd Snider

BOOK: Half Empty, Half Full: Understanding the Psychological Roots of Optimism by Susan C. Vaughan

POEM: Little Stones at My Window by Mario Benedetti

Once in a while

joy throws little stones at my window

it wants to let me know that it's waiting for me

but today I'm calm

I'd almost say even-tempered

I'm going to keep anxiety locked up

and then lie flat on my back

which is an elegant and comfortable position

for receiving and believing news

who knows where I'll be next

or when my story will be taken into account

who knows what advice I still might come up with

and what easy way out I'll take not to follow it

don't worry, I won't gamble with an eviction

I won't tattoo remembering with forgetting

there are many things left to say and suppress

and many grapes left to fill our mouths

don't worry, I'm convinced

joy doesn't need to throw any more little stones

I'm coming

I'm coming.

QUOTE: "The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser - in case you thought optimism was dead." ~ Robert Brault