Sunday, January 8, 2023

Fox Mural and Funeral


Here's a street scene from Walthamstow that I came across on Friday. Can you see the mural of the two foxes, one grooming the other, by street artists Irony + Boe? It was very hard to photograph given that a van is parked in the alley and those buildings are so close together.

I had not one but two nightmares last night. Weird, right? One was a pretty standard someone's-lurking-in-the-house kind of thing, but in the other, someone had cooked mussels and poured the broken up shells down our kitchen drain! NOOOOOOO!!!!

I don't think I've ever had a nightmare about plumbing before. Clearly I've been scarred by our recent travails.

I spent almost all day yesterday reading "The Ink Black Heart." Olga went for two walks around the neighborhood, but otherwise we were curled up on the couch. I'm up to page 613, and today will be another reading day, so with any luck I'll come close to finishing it. Ideally, I'd like to get it done before school resumes so I don't have to carry it back and forth, the blessed thing is so big.

You know how it's inspired me to go see some sights in London? Well, yesterday I was reading a scene that took place in Whitehall Gardens, with one of the characters hiding behind the statue of Henry Bartle Frere! I thought, "Aha! A place I've already been!"


Speaking of books, here's a cute free library I found on the street in Walthamstow. I didn't take any of the books -- I have plenty to read -- but I thought they did a great job on the construction and decoration. (Though man and bird are clearly not to scale.)

Yesterday was the funeral for my uncle, my mother's only sibling, who you may remember died at the end of November. It took place in Virginia and obviously I couldn't be there, but the funeral home allowed people to tune in online, so I got to participate from afar. I didn't know my uncle really well, but I saw him a couple of times a year as a child, and it was interesting to hear what others had to say about him -- emphasizing his positivity, his dedication to his church and community service through organizations like the Rotary Club, his affection for Ronald Reagan and meatloaf (the food, not the musician). He and my mother (who also did not attend, given her health) did not see eye-to-eye politically but he was a good person and not overbearing or argumentative about his relative conservatism. I do remember him complaining many years ago, post-Watergate, about the Washington Post. My grandfather disliked the Post too. They both thought it was a liberal rag. (I, of course, hold it in high regard!)

27 comments:

  1. You are a voracious reader Steve. Perhaps you should construct your own little free pavement library. You could decorate it with images of your favourite literary characters - including Fred Flintstone and The Incredible Hulk. I realise you don't have a workshop in your humble abode so maybe the Design and Technology department at the school could assist.

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  2. Yes, of course you hold The Post in high regard. The thrall some US citizens have with the right wing and extreme right wing puzzles the world and certainly me. Good on your Ma for having an independent political view. It is not good that men can strongly influence women about how to vote.

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  3. The scale of the tree, bird, and man on that charming free library would drive me nuts. I've been figuring all different ways to adjust the tree to make that work. I need to stop looking at it. Speaking of charming, Ronald Raygun managed to charm an awful lot of people.

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  4. Interesting material for nightmares! Plumbing has had that effect on me, too.

    The Little Free Library is a nice find. I think the relative sizes of the figures reflect their importance in the scheme of things.

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  5. I forgot to thank you for the fox mural, well spotted!

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  6. I like the fox mural - which is rare for me, as I generally dislike street murals.

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  7. I'm with Bike Shed- that fox is street art that I can approve of. Or at least enjoy.
    Okay, your mussel shell dream is unlike any dream I think I've ever had. Perhaps your brain is just trying to figure out how your sink got stopped up.
    Overall, I think that book may be affecting your waking and sleeping moments. Books can do that for sure.

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  8. I love the little free libraries in my neighborhood. I always have to stop and check what books are there when I am out for my walk. I have happily left books when I no longer need them. It is such an easy, sweet system for encouraging reading.

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  9. This current full moon may be having some effects on your dreams ... I am having some strange ones myself!

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  10. Seeing that beautiful fox mural reminds me that I should photograph the murals here. There really is some lovely art on the sides of buildings these days.

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  11. I was have a strange dream when I woke up this morning, took a few minutes to recall even some of it but basically I was somewhere with a group of people doing things but they were not including me so I went off on my own and ended up at some sort or junk/antique store/estate sale thing. Weird. Anyway, what is up with authors that write books 800 - 1000 pages long. I've read plenty that long but I find them to be a little tedious.

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  12. If reading was like everything good- calorie rich, you would be a fat man.
    LOVE the foxes, well done! It must be nightmare season- rarely do I have them but for the past three nights, I have been murdered, hunted, sliced and diced. Haunted by bad plumbing nightmare has not yet occurred - I leave that to you.

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  13. I love the Washington Post, my favorite newspaper. I keep seeing more of those little free libraries here and there. Great idea.

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  14. I love street art, especially when it's kind of out of the way.

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  15. I started the latest Anthony Horowitz mystery instead. After finishing a 550 page book (which I loved), I wasn't ready for another huge tome! That's a very cute Little Library. We don't have very many around here in suburbia.

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  16. Can't believe how much you cover on one post. Sympathy to you for the loss of your Uncle. We don't miss much these days when you can attend the funeral on line.

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  17. I think those little free libraries are cute (though I'm a bit bothered by the perspective in that one) and we have a couple in our downtown area that are old British phone booths.

    I'm a frequent, vivid dreamer so I always enjoy hearing others' dream details.

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  18. The stress of that drain blockage must have caused that dream. The thought of it happening again is lurking somewhere in your subconscious.
    This is how behind the times I am, I didn't realize they did on line funerals at all. That must have come about during COVID.
    The only two papers I subscribe to are the NY Times and the Washington Post. I wear the "liberal" badge proudly. :-)

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  19. I find it amazing how people living in the same country can have such different viewpoints on the same subject. Like the Washington Post or your (rightly) beloved New York Times. But that's life, I guess. I was glad you pointed out that there were two foxes in that striking mural. I hadn't seen the grooming one and was wondering why the other one appeared to be winking. :O

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  20. He may have liked Meatloaf the singer too. Meatloaf's conservative views on vaccines caused him to die an early death of Covid!

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  21. Love the fox mural! Fox was my mother's maiden name and I've always had a soft spot for them.

    I had a weird dream last night too - I was packing for Africa, apparently a long trip like the time I spent 18 months there. I spent the whole dream trying to figure out what I would need & how many bags I could have. Exhausting!

    I went to a funeral today of my best friend's father-in-law. He was nearly 80 and had had Alzheimer's for the last few years. But he died from COVID. It's still pretty prevalent in our area, so we had the funeral outside. It was rainy & 39 degrees. Not the most fun thing I've ever done

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  22. I have had a lot of weird dreams in my long life but I think I can safely say that not one of them had to do with plumbing!

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  23. A lovely mural..that is good work. So much more interesting than a grey rendered wall.
    I like the idea of those book swap libraries.
    That's good that you could follow the funeral online..and learn more about your relative. Sometimes it's sad that we learn so much then, instead of being able to appreciate them when living.

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  24. There is strange sense of crazy pride when one realises one has been somewhere described in a book.
    I can understand the nightmare. It would have been scarier than the lurking unknown.
    The mural is lovely. Very delicate and gentle.
    -Caro

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  25. I think those little free libraries are just the most wonderfully kind thing. I probably should not say this out loud, but I always find it remarkable that I've never seen one damaged or with the contents thrown around. People leave them be. I love that.

    The fox mural is really wonderful.

    I remember when I lived in a tiny home, I used to dream of finding other rooms that I didn't realize were there.

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  26. I'm glad you were able to attend the memorial online. That's a wonderful service. I wonder if there's more of that since Covid and now it's standard?

    I love that mural - it's beautifully done. Pity about the van but I think you did a great job with the photography. And that's a cute little library. I keep thinking I should do one and I never do.

    Don't be mad but I laughed out loud at the plumbing nightmare. I can see why! A mind is a fascinating thing.

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  27. YP: Does Fred Flintstone count as a literary character?!

    Andrew: It's not only U.S. citizens. Look at Brazil! This right-wing fever seems to be spreading all over the globe.

    Mitchell: Once I saw it, I couldn't unsee it! People liked Reagan's sunny disposition -- all that "Morning in America" BS.

    Boud: THAT's a good theory! I like it!

    Bike Shed: There are good ones and bad ones, for sure. I tend to like animal- and bird-themed ones.

    Ms Moon: I think you're right about the mussel shell dream, but I'm SURE we didn't put mussel shells down the sink! LOL

    Ellen D: It IS a great system. I like them too.

    Marcia: It's as likely to be the moon as anything else, I suppose!

    Robin: Yes, photograph it for us! Murals make great blog posts.

    Ellen: I think when some authors become successful they think they no longer need editors, and the editors are cowed by the author's success. Hence, we wind up with under-edited books.

    Linda Sue: Are you reading a murder mystery too? Maybe we're both being affected by books or TV?!

    Colette: It IS a great paper, though the NY Times still has the edge, I think. (I'm biased having worked there.)

    Bob: I like it too, though this is a little TOO out of the way. I don't like it to be obstructed.

    Margaret: We've got his new mysteries in our library and they are quite popular. I don't think I've ever read him.

    Red: It really was amazingly convenient, and enabled me to "attend" a funeral that I otherwise would have missed entirely.

    Kelly: Yes! I've seen phone booths repurposed for that here as well. (Also into coffee stands and planters!)

    Sharon: Yes, I think the online funeral thing got started during Covid, but it's a great idea.

    Catalyst: Yeah, it takes a while to see that second fox -- partly because of that parked van.

    Ed: Ha! I don't think my uncle was an anti-vaxxer, though we never talked about it so I'm not sure.

    Bug: Oh, yikes. Definitely not the day for an outdoor funeral. Maybe you're yearning to go traveling again?!

    Peace Thyme: This was definitely a first for me, too!

    GZ: I know, it IS sad that we don't learn more while they're alive. I learned that my uncle did all this volunteer work to transport senior citizens for medical appointments or to get food. I had no idea he was doing that! (Being a senior himself!)

    Caro: It's a point of connection with the book, I guess. When an author writes about a real, known place, it makes the whole story less abstract.

    Debby: Yes, it's true. I've never seen a vandalized street library. The cynical side of me wonders if this stems from vandals' indifference to books!

    Jeanie: Our brains are very strange! I had never heard of "online funerals" until Covid. I definitely think they came about as a result of the pandemic.

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