I say or In General

I say: I'm a point A to point B person.

She says: I know. But I like to enjoy the journey.

She says: Look at Chaucer. All of the best stories happen on the road.

I say: I hate Chaucer and all those pilgrims nattering on.

She says: Nattering?

I say: It's a word I feel comfortable using.

She says: Should you?


In general, when someone asks me to help them solve a crossword puzzle clue I become fixated on the first word that comes to mind. The clue might be: willful and strong-headed, and the accompanying spaces will be five letters. Stubborn, my mind will think. And I'll say out loud, "Give me a second. I'm an English Major, I should know this one." Then I stand in silence, perhaps knitting my brows to simulate thinking while my mind repeats over and over, Stubborn, Stubborn, Stubborn. Until I throw up my hands and say, "I'm not good at this sort of thing."

In general, I prefer summer, and I don't mind a good sweat. When it comes down to it, most people don't, or we'd have died out long ago from an absence of children.

In general, I don't notice the sky. Although, when I do, I often remark on the quality of the light and am prone to saying that it is beautiful. I occasionally say lovely, and rarely, breathtaking. Today, mid-day, I looked up at the sky and noticed a small sheet of blue amidst grey clouds that were spitting rain. I wanted to remark to T that the quality of the light was lovely and that the clouds looked like the great masts of long white ships. Instead, I threw the ball in a field of grass like my ancestors before me. The sky will always be there.

In general, I've no earthly clue what any of the constellations are though I've often wished that it wasn't so. I say things like, "We should visit the planetarium in Montreal," as if I would understand anything. Years ago now I took a course where we learned about various constellations and went on a night hike in the small mountains of Santa Barbara to identify them. I don't remember any of the constellations or the professor's name. Only that he was German, and spoke with an accent, and that the pace he set that night left two students too winded to continue. Thus, I can't even identify the little dipper, but I remember that we called that mountain night hike, inappropriately, a "Nazi death hike." And I remember my classmates wheezing on the rocks at the bottom of the uphill grade.

I can't vouch for the rather strange video, but in honor of our visit to Canada it's time for Stars.