What’s on the iPod: Caledonia by Amy MacDonald
Have you ever been so mentally exhausted that when you lie down to sleep, it doesn’t come? That was much of my weekend. Friday night I was just spent, but could not sleep. After a restless night, I spent Saturday in a bit of a daze. I accomplished much more than I thought I did, but I wasn’t fully aware.
Husband was home Friday with a stomach flu that lasted most of Saturday and part of Sunday. He’s better – shaky, but better – and may attempt work today. But I did a little caretaking to make sure he didn’t relapse. He’s been healthy all his life and he wasn’t familiar with how to eat when one is that sick. Fortunately for him, I’ve been down that road too many times to forget how to eat (and how not to eat).
So Saturday was errands. Laundry first, then I headed off to get a pedicure (rough week calls for a little pampering). Then on to the grocery store to pick up the week’s order and get food for him that he could digest easily.
And I actually finished my William Faulkner book – The Wild Palms (a.k.a. If I Forget Thee Jerusalem, which is the title he wanted in the first place). It was a satisfying read. Two stories in one: one about a convict and how he handles unexpected freedom and interaction with a woman; and the other a story of an illicit love affair that involves a married woman, a doctor in training, an abortion and all sorts of drama). The two stories have nothing to do with each other beyond the common theme of male/female interactions and soul redemptions that are all internal. If you’ve not read Faulkner before, start somewhere else. This requires patience — even more so for me, for as I turned each page, they fell out of the book. So much for used paperbacks.
Thanks to the neighbor’s cat (whom I shall always call Carl though his name is Louie), I have two spots of poison ivy on my upper leg where he jumped and made himself at home. That made sleeping Saturday night nearly impossible. I would wake up itching like mad and unable to scratch or even relieve it. Carl’s on my list, and not the good one.
He was feeling well enough yesterday to head off to Audubon (yes, that Audubon) for a plant walk. We’re fortunate to be five minutes by car from the Audubon Nature Center in Mill Grove (where John J. first lived), and even more fortunate that the man who coauthored the book Plants of Pennsylvania was leading the walk. My botanist husband was in Latin heaven — there were so many species and families being bandied about that he was deeply satisfied. I liked it, too. Lots to see in just one walk. On our way out, we stopped to see the owls in the pens, and to chat with the landscape architect, who was taking photos of her work. She’d gone entirely native plants, which just suits the place so perfectly.
Then we spent the evening in the company of Tannahill Weavers, a traditional Scottish music band. They were fantastic. I was enamored with the fact that one of their past members is Dougie MacLean, who wrote Caledonia, one of my favorite Celtic songs.
Today I have a good deal of work, but the pace is slowing, amen. I’m about to head into the last two interviews for the client magazine, and I have three articles to put together before that. Plus, another client call, a conversation with a potential client, and three revisions to other articles.
So what are you doing this week? How was the weekend?
So sorry you had a rough weekend. Mine had unexpected things come up, but the writing rocked, and I'm very happy with the results. I'm LOVING my Coursera classes. Working my butt off, but so much I didn't expect is coming out of the class, and I can use pretty much all the material I'm writing for the class in the real world.
FAULKNER's great. My favorite is still THE SOUND AND THE FURY, but I can only read one FAulkner a year and really submerge in him.
Like Devon, The Sound and the Fury is my favorite Faulkner work. It was also the first Faulkner I read (unless I read his Barn Burner story first…unsure of the order). That's a challenging intro to Faulkner, but I read it in one weekend for an American Lit class….I read it before the professor explained how each section was from the POV of a different character. Somehow I figured it out (although at first I thought Quentin had a sex change). A classic novel that demands the occasional re-read.
I've been sick all weekend, but still managed to to some laundry, steam acorn squash to make Ellie Krieger's mac & cheese (pretty good, but I'd sub more extra-sharp Cheddar for the blah Monterey Jack), Swiffer the floor, work on a résumé, do lots of dishes, and cover/uncover my outdoor plants to avoid frost. I also drank about 20 cups of tea per day.
Today I have the final two interviews for an article due next week (I hope my voice holds out and I don't have any coughing fits during the calls).
Devon, glad to hear Coursera is working out! Happy to introduce people to that place –it's just great.
I love The Sound and The Fury too, but it's not my favorite. My favorite is Light in August, which I think is his best. His technique is one I'm mirroring in my own fiction, but only the parts that feel true to my own style.
Hope you're feeling better, Paula! Sucks when you're sick over the weekend. It's like detention!
After reading S&F three times, I did get the POV switch down. Took a while, though!
Ah, fellow Faulkner lovers, I'm in good company. (But I knew that already!) I read a bunch of him in school as an English major, but I haven't picked him up for fun. Now I'm inspired.
My weekend was good. Turned in one assignment, did some business housekeeping and had an interview for a profile I'm writing. It feels really good to get some of the bitty, annoying things done that I keep putting off.
I'll have to jump on The Sound & Fury bandwagon. 🙂
Our horrible air quality grounded me again this weekend. No walks. I hate that. But, we got some rain (not enough), but enough to get me out there this morning. Yay!!
I'm getting excited about the 3-Day Walk. 53 days and counting!
Ashley, you might love Toni Morrison, too. She "out-Faulkners" Faulkner. I adore her writing.
Cathy, I knew there was something about you I liked. 🙂 Fifty-three days! I'm rooting for you, toots!