Blog #172... December 2025
November is the darkest month, or the cruelest month and it's also a month for remembering. In Mexico it's the Day of the Dead, and here we honour combatants killed in wars. Although we're still in the decade of the pandemic, it's somehow receded into distant memory, one of the weird things about it.
Margaret Atwood's been all over the airwaves since her memoir Book of Lives appeared. I picked up her Fourteen Days, and discovered a fascinating production. Commissioned by the Authors Guild Foundation as a fundraiser for writers who lost income due to COVID, and edited by Atwood, it's a collaborative novel with contributions from 35 writers from the US and Canada. Taking place over 2 weeks in early April, 2020 in a rather seedy NYC apartment building, the tenants meet each evening on the roof to applaud health care workers, and to tell stories. It's early days of lock downs and there's much talk of distancing, masks, hand sanitizer, toilet paper...and death. Margaret Atwood presides like a wise and witty Scheherazade over the piece and it took me back to how it was in that time that seems so long ago.
This eventful November began with the excitement of game 7 of the World Series. The emotional intensity was too much for me and although I usually lean towards stimulating reading, I found myself sinking into Helen Humphrey's short novel Followed by the Lark. She introduces a small boy named Henry who loves nature and, as he ages, gradually reveals that it's Thoreau...it was a perfect refuge for a few hours from the craziness of the world.
Susan Orlean has just released a biography called Joyride, a nice way to describe life. Libraries and stories play a huge role in her life, as they do in mine, maybe yours too. In a recent interview, she mentioned that in Senegalese, the word for death means his/her library burned. So, we could think of a life being made up of stories and when the physical form is gone, the stories remain.
Salman Rushdie also has a new book out that tells the most important story of his life. In 2022, he was stabbed while speaking in the outdoor amphitheatre at the Chautauqua Institute. In The 11th Hour, both the title of his book and how he thinks of the stage of his life, he determines and examines what he chooses to value in the time he has left.
Our local library held a Death Cafe recently - seems a theme is \ emerging here. I decided to go ,not knowing what to expect, but curious. My first surprise was the age of the other folks, probably mostly 40ish, and pretty equally boy/girl. After a very brief intro by an organizer, a random group of us gathered around one of the tables and got down to business remarkably quickly and easily. The conversation opened with expressions of a wish to connect with other people. As we moved around the table introducing ourselves, individual issues emerged: the recent death of one man's wife, upcoming deaths of parents complicated by estrangement, a recent brush with a near fatal illness, a student of thanatology. I brought up how we avoid saying die, preferring passed away or deceased. I found the connections warm and gratifying but left the session with the slight uneasiness that there was unfinished material. I hope it was the beginning for people to be open with their feelings, and support for continuing..
And finally, New York's often in the news, Uganda not so much, but two items caught my attention this morning, both about elections. New Yorkers chose Uganda born Zohran Mamdani to be their mayor and Nancy Kalembe has been elected Uganda's first female president. I visited my cousin Marney in Kampala in 2003 when she was working on a project that encouraged women to engage in politics. I wish she were still alive so I could share that news.
We'll meet again, God willing and the creeks don't rise, in 2026. In the meantime, take care, and find some ways to enjoy the holiday season.
And finally, New York's often in the news, Uganda not so much, but two items caught my attention this morning, both about elections. New Yorkers chose Uganda born Zohran Mamdani to be their mayor and Nancy Kalembe has been elected Uganda's first female president. I visited my cousin Marnet in Kampala in 2003 when she was working on a project that encouraged women to engage in politics. I wish she was still alive so I could share that news.
We'll meet again, God willing and the creeks don't rise, in 2026. In the meantime, take care, and find some ways to enjoy the holiday season.
