Hostile Death

I have noticed that a lot of people are hostile about death. Maybe their death, or their friends impending death, or an adult child's death. Lately death has been hard at work taking away many people we know via cancer. People my age and people in their 80's. Death comes swift for some and slowly and painfully for others. Funerals come and go, far flung family arrives, emotions are allover the place. Sometimes you are asked who you are and what are you doing here by a relative. I say, I was here when your loved one was dying. He or she asked for XYZ and I got it done. You are now here and you can carry on with your grief. I am only a friend who was there at the end. Some endings have been salvation, other endings painful questions. But the worst are the accusations from other friends about my choice to overstep their feelings and get the job done. Be it prayers, getting a priest, grocery, farm work, blanket making I get the job done. My friend is dead and I have to live with that person no longer in my life. But you do not know that as you do not know me. Your mom or dad or grandparent or uncle or aunt was my friend and they died. And I hope when I die they are waiting for me on the other side of life with the big man upstairs. I guess I am a fixer. I get the job done. Sometimes I find what was lost, a person, an object, a place, a song or a photo. I bring a moment of peace of mind to that person I got to know while here on this earth. But I am happy in my work as I work around death in all his forms. I can see when he is near and I let him do his job. But I am not hostile to it for I know one day he will come for me.

Cottonwood Books

Sometimes you have a favorite store and it is always there. You can count on the owner being there, he knows your wants, he can get you what you are looking for and tell you where to find what you need if he does not have it. Danny is that guy and his store is Cottonwood Books in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The guy is one of a kind and he has that knack for knowing just about everything published. Worth the drive to visit. Just ask Tom Hanks.

Twenty-Four Eyes

Saw a wonderful vintage Japanese film (with English subtitles) called Twenty-Four Eyes. It is based on a tale written by Sakae Tsuboi and the film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita about a rural school teacher in 1930's Japan and their lives through WWII. It was so neat to see what farm life was like, the seasons of Japan and their rural culture. It is a long movie but worth it to see how it all unfolds. The protagonist is a female teacher and a great role model even for today's times. Only wish it was in color to show the beauty of the rural panoramas

It's a Wes Wes Wes Wes Anderson World!

If you love Wes Anderson movies you will love this Honest Trailers of all his movies. What is not to love?