FOG AT 7 A.M. / 32 DEGREES

Yesterday I completed the emptying of my storage unit. I feel as if I have moved away from a place where I lived longer than I needed to. It's a good feeling. Still have to sort through the last of the possessions that I brought home yesterday, most of which are books, some of which belonged to my mother and father. As I was carrying them into my home I thought, "If I didn't have all these books, it would be much easier to move." I'll be wearing a dust mask as I sort through them, letting go of those that I can't read again anyway because of my sensitivity to book mold. Most of the books were in my storage unit for that reason, but I wasn't ready to let them go completely. I remember how difficult it was to let go of my father's moldy papers from his college days because letting them go felt like a betrayal of him.

A few days ago, while sorting, I found these handknit socks which were a gift from the mother of a former classmate who came from Turkey to study at our local community college in the early 1980s. I love them. They keep my feet warm on this chilly foggy morning.






















Update: A clear sunny day at 11:30 a.m. after the fog burned off. It's 55 degrees out on the porch now. I forgot to say that the fog this morning was filled with the sound of the Canada Geese who arrive here this time of year. The swallows usually arrive within the next week. This is the week my daffodil bulbs will begin to bloom.

I am finding that I am able to let go of approximately half of the books which were in the storage unit. That half will go to "The Friends of the Library" who will sell them, and the money will go to the public library. My delight in the other half of the books is still strong, and I've made room for them.

ALLIGATOR SEEN FROM A SMALL BRIDGE AT GULF COAST NATIONAL SEASHORE IN OCEAN SPRINGS, MISSISSIPPI

When I was a child I was quite frightened by the crocodile that had swallowed a ticking clock and stalked Captain Hook in the Walt Disney version of PETER PAN. As a young woman, I saw drugged-appearing crocodiles who never seemed to move at all in their habitat in the Steinhart aquarium in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Along with seeing my first cardinal, I saw my first alligator last week. I remember my father, while visiting me when he was in his 70s, having his picture taken next to a buffalo. He said he had never seen a live buffalo before.

While preparing for my trip to visit my sister in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, I went to a bookstore to find a book to read during the long plane trip I would be taking. I almost bought a new copy of MOBY DICK, a book I read during the late 70s or early 80s and still consider one of my favorite books. Instead, I bought LESSONS IN BECOMING MYSELF, by Ellen Burstyn. I found out later that Ellen Burstyn tells a story in her book where she takes her son, at his request, on a sports fishing boat off the coast of California, a trip in which she brought along a copy of MOBY DICK. As she was reading, the fishing boat came close to a whale who then spouted. The spray of water landed on her and her book. She looked down at the wet page and read the following words, "Is Ahab, Ahab? Is it I, God, or who, that lifts this arm? . . ."

I like her book. It was just the book I needed during my time on the airplane and in Mississippi. When I finish it, I'll go back to the bookstore and buy MOBY DICK.

Although I've never seen THE EXORCIST and have no plans to see it, I have seen and appreciated Ellen Burstyn in:

ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE
RESURRECTION
WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD
THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN

Toni Morrison, author of BELOVED, wrote for the back cover of the book: "I deeply admire Ellen Burstyn's scrupulous honesty and the urgency with which she pursues enlightenment. An extremely moving story of a fully lived life."

What I have found particularly interesting is Ellen Burstyn's affinity with Sufis and Carl Jung. Here is an interview with her.