Jims of Wyzdom for April 20, 2018

As Dave so mystically observed this morning to the Writing group, “Welcome to February the 92^nd!” Sheesh…will it be spring, already?

Movies: Bonnie and I haven’t been going to our usual number of movies lately, but we did get out to see “The Quiet Place,” written and directed by John Krasinski and featuring his wife, Emily Blunt. It’s very good for a horror flick. It is NOT about gore and aliens tearing up everything; it is much more about how a typical family is dealing with impossible challenges including trying to have a baby silently! Yes, you do see the creatures but we never learn if they are aliens or some kind of government experiment gone really bad. And the ultimate solution comes from a kind of surprising place but seems like a case of poetic justice if ever I saw one.

Opera: Since I won’t be writing a column next week, let me throw in the final Met in HD opera info here. It will be “Cendrillon” by Jules Massenet (don’t ask me to pronounce that) but you can just call it “Cinderella.” The previews look fantastic and there was a nice piece in the Times about Joyce DiDonato who sings the title role. It’s very bright and storybook in its concept, so I’m in. Also featured are Stephanie Blythe as the ugly step-mother, Kathleen Kim as the Fairy Godmother, Alice Coote as the prince (trouser role) and conductor Bertrand de Billy. Start time is 12:55 PM, Saturday, April 28.

Life: Part of my work in our Writing Group has been to compose several personal memoir pieces. The latest one reviews how I made the transition from one job to the next and how each assignment made possible the next one. Some of you know I am a third-generation teacher and have made a new career teaching for OLLI. I can’t believe I have taught 42 OLLI classes! This piece has me asking myself, ‘what life-paths have others of our OLLI friends pursued?’ And would you share your journey? I wish many of you would send me a paragraph or two.  Jim.Held@mail.wvu.edu  I have no idea if we could make some kind of class out of this information, but if you would like to suggest possibilities, please let me know.

A Prayer in Spring by Robert Frost

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil.

Enjoy!

Jim Held