My
DVD of The
Gleaners and I, the
reason for the new DVD/VCR combo player, finally arrived
on Tuesday. This almost made up for missing my
orthopedist appointment because Ned spaced and got the
time wrong. I was in a bad mood at being grounded for
three extra days before I can even think about getting
out and about, but Nancy prescribed two viewings of
The
Gleaners and I
to stave off the depression. In fact I have now
watched it three times and have watched the sequel,
The Gleaners and I, Two Years After, five times. I
want to go out and glean heart-shaped potatoes, trash,
furniture, images... Then I read Jessie's
entry "gruesz",
which is what she calls gleaning (apparently an MIT
word). Who knew there was an MIT tradition of gleaning?
Maybe Agnes Varda should do a Gleaners and I Part
III set in Cambridge.
The movie also made me want to take
pictures again but being pretty much housebound I wasn't
sure what to take pictures of. Books? Pictures in the
books? That would be gleaning of a sort.
When
the Beach Boys were here, Michael saw the illustration in
the Charles St. John book of the rats stealing an egg and
exclaimed "That's exactly how rats steal eggs in England
according to Aunt Mavis!" I thought the illustration was
fanciful but he claims that Mavis claims to have seen it.
Those invasive "Hanoverian rats" must be much smarter
than the "far less vile native English rats". Maybe they
went to MIT. Hmm, the rats aren't exactly gleaning unless
the hen abandoned the egg. :-) And do Hanoverian rats
really have such cheerful faces?
I thought I might be able to get
some real writing done today now that I've finished the
newsletter and gotten better at one handed typing but the
noise of the leaf blowers is driving me crazy. I can't
hear myself think. They started at 7:30 this morning
under my bedroom window. This caused near panic because I
was sound asleep and thought it was the sand removal
people come to clean the parking lot. That's scheduled
for tomorrow but in my sleepy state I couldn't be sure
what day it was.
I've got to cure myself of this
panicky reflex regarding the parking lot lest I break a
leg or dislocate the other shoulder. I read in the
Boston Globe that there's a program at Gordon
College to teach elders how to improve their balance and
prevent falls. It seems to deal mostly with removing
tripping hazards and learning to move gracefully. They
don't mention the startle reaction. Maybe I'm the only
person who falls because of the startle reflex. Unlikely.
Meanwhile, I've got to set the alarm super early tomorrow
- well super early for me if not normal people - because
the car has to be moved by 8:00 AM. I guess I absolutely
positively have to be able to drive by tomorrow morning
or I am in deep trouble. The sand people are starting at
8:00 sharp and my courtyard is the first one
scheduled.
I wonder if they reuse the
sand.
