I came down with covid yesterday after traveling west into the heartland, a vagueness and fatigue descending on me as I returned to the urban buzz after a day in farm country.
It's hard to believe you have written something so beautiful and evocative and have Covid. I hope you feel better soon and proceed on your journey. I think I would like my ashes scattered in places that I love.
BC is too far from a lifetime of friends, all in the East. Also, I enjoy living across the street from the college: the pool, the library, the lake, sone volunteer projects with Sustainability. Here, I feel at home.
Sorry to hear covid finally struck. By this time I don’t think it’s missed anyone I know. If you were feeling weak, it certainly didn’t slow down your heart and mind. Your essay made me think about how unfashionable Oswego keeps pulling mr back. I’ve moved away and come back 3 times. I guess it’s where my heart feels most at home. But who knows if I will stay put this time with my daughter in British Columbia.
We've been watching with interest as people in our cohort make various late-in-life moves, often with their kids and grandkids in mind. How does BC feel to you?
I was thinking yesterday about how my mother (born in 1907) moved from the Upper West Side to Berkeley in her late 80s. Her biggest adjustment was wearing sneakers all the time.
So sorry you got Covid! You don’t sound a bit sick. I guess you have a less than terrible case…? I didn’t know you were a Haruf fan. We have all his books. They’ve made it through our last two downsizings. Reading Haruf feels like praying, to me.
It's not too bad...but isolation is isolating. I'm crazy about Haruf. Felt bereft when he died and I realized I wouldn't get more of him. Glad to share that with you.
I felt the same way when he died - and still feel that way when I notice his books in the bookcase! Glad you have some countryside not far away that feels like his kind of country. I remember enjoying that when we lived in Colorado. Know that I am thinking of you with love during your isolation.
It's interesting how some writers give their readers so much in relatively few books where others keep churning it out. Sometimes there's a fair amount of excess baggage that gets published just because the author is a "name" and doesn't call it a day. You think?
I'm thinking more of a writer who doesn't know when to give it a rest.....different from someone whose second book doesn't live up to her/his first. There has to be room for that. But there are an awful lot of trees that give their lives to late-career books of questionable merit. Sorry if that's harsh. Covid'll do that to you.
My hunch is that those late-career writers are used to a lot of acclaim and don't realize their work has gone downhill, plus if they've got publishers who know the book will sell well, the publishers are highly motivated to keep publishing them. And if movie rights are involved, that's more money for all involved. But this is just a hunch. What do I know? I don't follow this kind of story.
This place I went to out west from Minneapolis...just a few hours....really stunned me. People are living and dying such different lives right under our noses.
When I began reading this I thought it could be the start of a short story, so interestingly and beautifully. I'd love to read a book by you! So sorry about the COVID Sweetheart!
The setting where this piece begins felt like fiction to me when I was in it. So different was it from anywhere I'd ever been. It's little more than an hour outside the Twin Cities. Miles and miles, years and years away.
That's interesting, Patty. I imagine you more fixed in time and place than I am. But, of course, our fantasies about other people are often way off base.
In many ways I am and in other ways I am actually traveling into other worlds - either by prayer, speaking to small groups (more and more now) or dreaming/planning a return to Assisi, Italy. I so belong there. Wish I could live there for the rest of my life.
I had no idea that you are hoping to live in Assisi. I remember when you went on that trip! What is it about that place that seems so right for your soul?
“The landscape in southwest Minnesota has the flavor of mortality before you even get to face the fact of it.” You warn us but we’re still unprepared for what follows. This is deep, wonderful writing.
You are living life to the fullest wherever you are, and soaking it all in-that’s what matters
Thanks for the vote of confidence. Sometimes when you're sick, you don't feel that way. But you know that!
It's hard to believe you have written something so beautiful and evocative and have Covid. I hope you feel better soon and proceed on your journey. I think I would like my ashes scattered in places that I love.
I see you've written "places." Do you imagine the scattering in more than one place?
Yes if possible.
BC is too far from a lifetime of friends, all in the East. Also, I enjoy living across the street from the college: the pool, the library, the lake, sone volunteer projects with Sustainability. Here, I feel at home.
But things could change. We’ll see.
Sorry to hear covid finally struck. By this time I don’t think it’s missed anyone I know. If you were feeling weak, it certainly didn’t slow down your heart and mind. Your essay made me think about how unfashionable Oswego keeps pulling mr back. I’ve moved away and come back 3 times. I guess it’s where my heart feels most at home. But who knows if I will stay put this time with my daughter in British Columbia.
We've been watching with interest as people in our cohort make various late-in-life moves, often with their kids and grandkids in mind. How does BC feel to you?
I was thinking yesterday about how my mother (born in 1907) moved from the Upper West Side to Berkeley in her late 80s. Her biggest adjustment was wearing sneakers all the time.
So sorry you got Covid! You don’t sound a bit sick. I guess you have a less than terrible case…? I didn’t know you were a Haruf fan. We have all his books. They’ve made it through our last two downsizings. Reading Haruf feels like praying, to me.
It's not too bad...but isolation is isolating. I'm crazy about Haruf. Felt bereft when he died and I realized I wouldn't get more of him. Glad to share that with you.
I felt the same way when he died - and still feel that way when I notice his books in the bookcase! Glad you have some countryside not far away that feels like his kind of country. I remember enjoying that when we lived in Colorado. Know that I am thinking of you with love during your isolation.
It's interesting how some writers give their readers so much in relatively few books where others keep churning it out. Sometimes there's a fair amount of excess baggage that gets published just because the author is a "name" and doesn't call it a day. You think?
Yessss! In my reading experience, that seems to be especially true when the author's first book is an absolute knockout.
I'm thinking more of a writer who doesn't know when to give it a rest.....different from someone whose second book doesn't live up to her/his first. There has to be room for that. But there are an awful lot of trees that give their lives to late-career books of questionable merit. Sorry if that's harsh. Covid'll do that to you.
My hunch is that those late-career writers are used to a lot of acclaim and don't realize their work has gone downhill, plus if they've got publishers who know the book will sell well, the publishers are highly motivated to keep publishing them. And if movie rights are involved, that's more money for all involved. But this is just a hunch. What do I know? I don't follow this kind of story.
I hope you’re on the mend soon.
Thanks, Jan. It's slow and tedious but not a bad case.
Another picture of another way of living, and dying. Thank you! And I hope you feel better very soon.
Thank you, Signe. It's amazing....the stories that unfold under our noses.
This took my breath away! Such a meditation on later life and mortality. Your description of the afterlife as flat and endless struck me.
This place I went to out west from Minneapolis...just a few hours....really stunned me. People are living and dying such different lives right under our noses.
When I began reading this I thought it could be the start of a short story, so interestingly and beautifully. I'd love to read a book by you! So sorry about the COVID Sweetheart!
The setting where this piece begins felt like fiction to me when I was in it. So different was it from anywhere I'd ever been. It's little more than an hour outside the Twin Cities. Miles and miles, years and years away.
I could resonate from so much of what you say here, Susie. Thank you, as always.
That's interesting, Patty. I imagine you more fixed in time and place than I am. But, of course, our fantasies about other people are often way off base.
In many ways I am and in other ways I am actually traveling into other worlds - either by prayer, speaking to small groups (more and more now) or dreaming/planning a return to Assisi, Italy. I so belong there. Wish I could live there for the rest of my life.
I had no idea that you are hoping to live in Assisi. I remember when you went on that trip! What is it about that place that seems so right for your soul?
“The landscape in southwest Minnesota has the flavor of mortality before you even get to face the fact of it.” You warn us but we’re still unprepared for what follows. This is deep, wonderful writing.
People live their entire lives inside of that warning. Remarkable.