Dear friends,
Our daughter Jeannie told me enthusiastically about her journal. It's in a bigspiral bound notebook and holds all kinds of things besides her writing. For instance she uses it to hold drawings and sketches of occurences in her life. She
's an excellent artist. She also writes prose and poetry, and jots things down
that she wants to remember. From her description her jottings seem to be written in every which way, instead of just on regular lines. I think of her as my radiant darling. I have other names for our equally loved and cherished other three children, each of whom is different.
Jeannie talked me into trying her kind of journal, which she calls a record of life. I've kept journals for years. They have always been black bound books of
lined paper. Not very large books, and filled with my regular writing of daily
events. I have written the dates covered on their spines in white ink and I have shelves of them now.
Following her instructions I bought myself a thick, spiral bound notebook and have been trying to find my own way to filling it with more than writing. So far
I've found lots of kinds of bits and pieces. For instance a list of things to accomplish or buy that Karen and I took with us once, when we went out together while she was here on a visit with me while Ben was in Germany last May. We wanted to buy green tea, shell buttons to replace some cheap plastic buttons on blouses, roasted cashew nuts, canned three beans for three bean salad, Lens-Plus cleaner for her contact lenses, nail polish remover, to go to the Bank for cheques
and the safety deposit box in another place to put a document away.
We bought paint for a couple of old wooden benches I still had. Karen continually paints a little every week around her house and it is really a pretty and interesting place. For instance, with glass paints she has made
designs and even stained glass effects on some of their windows. That day we painted my old benches a fine shade of Hunter Green. Now, one of them proudly holds a long container overflowing with red, blue yellow and white flowers. It stands near our front entrance looking very spiffy. It was originally quite a cheap one, flimsily built and finally, heavily weathered. From rapidly turning into
a piece of junk it morphed into this charming showpiece.
The other bench was the old-fashioned park bench type. The kind with very ornate metal ends and wooden slats between forming a curved back and seat for two. The slats on mine were weathered a fine silver grey colour. It was the metal ends
that needed the paint. They have curling vines and other scrollery. Now, painted a shiny deep green it looks very atmospheric as it stands on the brow of the
hill by itself as a lookout seat for when we want to contemplate the beauty of
the pastures, vineyards, distant homes and the lake and mountains on the other side.
I also decided to include newspaper clippings of interest. For instance: "According to Statistics Canada's 2001 census the nearby city of Kelowna's Asian population included 900 Chinese, 850 Japanese, 1,250 South Asian, 140 Korean and 20
West Asian." (Total population is about 100,000.)
There are beautiful birthday cards here from my darlings, with heartfelt sentiments to remind me of their thoughts about me and their love.
There's information about books I plan to order, such as a copy of Don Quixote in a reportedly marvellous new translation by Edith Grossman. It's the 400th anniversary of the first volume of Cervantes's masterpiece. It was named in a 2002
poll of 100 international authors as literature's greatest work (Western) and stands in the same sacramental relationship to Spain as Shakespeare's works to England. It begins in her translation "Somewhere in la Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember, a gentleman lived not long ago, one of those who
has a lance and ancient shield on a shelf and keeps a skinny nag and a greyhound
for racing." Sound intriguing? I've read it before but this does to me.
Here's another little clipping to inspire me to add buckwheat to our diet.
"Containing all the essential amino acids, buckwheat is one of the best sources
of high-quality, easily digestible proteins in the plant kingdom. It's high in
nutrients and antioxidants and low in fat, and is a good source of soluble and insoluble fibre, plus slowly absorbed complex carbohydrates. It's also extremely tasty." There was a recipe for "decadent Avocado Buckwheat Crepe Rolls, but I
didn't clip it. I have a Ukrainian recipe book with many buckwheat recipes to
try.
Here's a very natural picture of young Afghan girls all dressed up. They look like they are between seven and ten years old and are all giggling together. They attitudes and shy or happy grins look like the kinds of little girls I went with to grade school. Their lives are so sadly different, though, and I hope things will change for their daughters, at least. The caption tell me that "Many are forced into marriage at an early age and sold to any man who offers their families enough money." There is another of a woman in a full veil. It's the kind
with an embroidered cap which holds the heavy full head and body covering and has a little lacy section on the front for her to see through. She is in profile,
hand extended firmly aiming a big square black gun. She lives in the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar and is the city's only policewoman. Although required to wear the veil, she also carries a weapon beneath her burqa." She is a true anomaly, isn't she? She wears red nail polish on her short nails. She must buy nail polish remover just like Karen and I have on our list.
What kind of a journal do you keep? Do you have any unusual ideas about how to
use your journal?
Warmly, Mary
