catching up

Readers who check this space with reasonable frequency will note the large gap between my last post and this.  It is not that I have nothing to say.  There are actually two posts sitting in the editing queue waiting for me to wrap them up and publish.  As time creeps along, however, they seem less relevant.

One spent time detailing the second night of swing dancing class.  It talked about my surprise at improvements made and how I was still enjoying it.  It probably wasn't that interesting, except as an illustration of what I've been doing with my time.  The other was about the approach of fall, and cooler weather.  As the words were coming together, however, our days returned to hot and our nights to humid.  It was nothing more than premature hopes manifest as prosaic wishing.

My vacation abroad is coming up, and I've gone from feeling comfortable that everything is congealing to anxiously piecing together the final details.  I am stunned by the things left undone and regret I now feel in a rush to complete.  Really, I just cannot wait to get there.  I also feel busier than I have in a long time, which is perhaps another symptom (in my mind still molded to the scholastic concept of semesters) of the lazy days of summer giving way to the productive months of fall and winter. I'm juggling things I feel like I haven't juggled in a while, and there's always the concern that one will get dropped.  It's not an issue if the fallen object is a ball, but an egg falling is another issue entirely.  It's thrilling, like overcoming one's acrophobia to jump off a cliff's edge.

Today is "Talk Like a Pirate Day".  Well, okay.  Despite my other dramatic talents, I don't excel at assuming the pirate persona.  In the space between anticipated television premieres last night, my friends and I found little to fill the time.  Because of this, we found ourselves 'hooked' by a show where families are temporarily rearranged.  In last night's instance, one family was immured within the stereotypical pirate life.  While I'll admit they appeared to be a fun-loving people, it seemed mostly an excuse to ignore reality and responsibility.  I was interested in this backstage portrait of life lived in character.  I've been to things like Medieval Times or Scarborough Faire, festivals celebrating [an interpretation of] courtly culture.  Watching these "pirates" onscreen, I was struck by the parallels to those whose profession is the depiction of knights and nobles, or portrayals of minstrels, smiths, and peasants.  The two are virtually the same, with one land-locked and the other in eye-patches.  I think the thing I find most interesting is the speck of history hidden underneath the layers of caricature and make-believe.  It's also sociologically fascinating.  What in one's nature or upbringing causes one to shift from the enjoyment of something for a few hours to embedding it in one's character?  Why do certain traits of personality dim and others scintillate?  Is it something that just happens, or is there intentionality?

We may never know.