Saturday, November 5, 2016

glory terrestrial

Where have I been and where am I going? I'm not really sure about either. Through the blur of the last week (or is it even longer), I can pick out a few highlights, but otherwise the days have been steadily marching to darkness. Tonight is the switch to daylight savings time where the darkness will come in the late afternoon. Blah.

Last Saturday night we got dressed up - me, not Carm - and drove to the Acapulco for a Halloween supper. I couldn't think of a good costume and finally settled on a lumberjack, but in honour of Monty Python I added a big string of pearls. I don't think anyone got it except Carm.  I stuck with my regular hair and couldn't even bother to dye it pink. I suppose lumberjacks, even Monty Python ones, don't have pink hair.

Like last year, Glenn was there with his karaoke setup. There wasn't a big crowd at the restaurant so it seemed a bit pathetic despite his best efforts. Karaoke is one of those things: 'when it is good it is very very good, but when it is bad it is horrid'. Not to say that it was horrid because it wasn't.

Later in the evening the music got rocking luring people out onto the bit of floor that had been cleared of tables. I waved my axe (cardboard!) around and grooved. Neighbors Vashek and Marie kicked up their heels which is really good as Vashek has Parkinson's and doesn't move around very well. The music seemed to flow through his nervous system and gave him long lost vigour, at least temporarily. Music is primal.

We left early as we had to be at the Greek Orthodox church early Sunday morning for our friend Jim's mother's memorial service. We got there a bit late and stood in the vestibule waiting for a good time to deek into the church. As we waited hordes of people came in to buy candles and other stuff I didn't understand - there was much commerce going on back there.

We eventually found our moment and snuck into a pew. I am always interested to see the decorations of different churches and faiths. The church was well decorated with stained glass, carved wood and much artwork. A feast for the eyes. Which was a good thing as the service went on for ages - it might have been 1 1/2 hours… Interestingly the entire service was sung in Greek. The chanting flowed through my limbs, relaxing them for the first half hour, then my attention span wavered. I did say to Carm after that if he could sit through this, he could surely sit through a showing of 'Les Miserables' with me. It is in English, and there is more action in Les Mis too.

Monday (I think), we went to Costco to look for new pants. Carm picked up a few pairs of black dockers, and I got a stack of jeans to try on (the problem with Costco is that there is no changing room to try things on so you basically have to buy everything you want to try and return it later). In the end we each ended up with a pair that fit.

A few days later - I can't remember which one - we went into town to the shopping centre to get our new pants hemmed. While waiting we strolled into the Bay to see about a new sport coat for Carm. The sales were good and we found a really nice one. Before we were finished we were swept up by the salesman and Carm had a pair of matching pants and a nice shirt to go with it. Carm wasn't the only one to score - I got two nice summer tops on a terrific sale. It was an expensive day!

With a new suit it seems obvious that we have to pack for a formal night on the cruise! We hadn't planned on it but I think it will be fun. I have a nice dress, although I was mightily tempted to try on one at the Bay, but even with the sale it was over $300! I don't think so! I'm not a dress person but this one really caught my eye and I still think about it. It rates with my coral sequin dress that doesn't fit at the moment (I double checked).

"But there is always a November space after the leaves have fallen when she felt it was almost indecent to intrude on the woods…for their glory terrestrial had departed and their glory celestial of spirit and purity and whiteness had not yet come upon them.”
~L.M. Montgomery

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