Cutting Grass

Many people wonder why my wife loves to cut grass, sometimes even twice a day, when she is in the mood. The answer is quite simple, but also complex, I suppose. First, it's an extremely efficient way to get some exercise. Instead of hitting a gym, walking or running, she pushes a lawnmower. It usually takes 45 minutes to cut it once, and the pushing as well as walking is great exercise. It also involves a sense of closure, as at the end of the task, the lawn does look wonderful, green, evenly cut, a reminder to my neighbor to buck up. It also is a mindless task, so that one can lose oneself in the doing, a form of meditation I suppose, of cultivating mindfulness, concentrating on the doing. Is it a form of play? I suppose, in that it's not something she must do; it is fun and though there is a goal, it does not get in the way of enjoying the doing. I bring up the idea of play as I am reading a book called PLAY, which argues that play is essential to learning, to growth, to happiness and we must not allow ourselves to become so serious that we leave play out of our lives. Reading and writing can be a form of play, as is this attempt to understand my wife's passionate affair with a lawn mower. Let my mind move freely, from thought to thought, seeing where it takes me, without limits is a form of play as well. I think that I have avoided play, or at least the idea of it, as if it were childish and not grown up. But the book has made me rethink this generalization, see that I might play more than I think, and has convinced me to be more open to playful opportunities as well as see how teachers might work play into the classroom. Homo Ludens emphasized the idea of play as I recall and early in the 1980's we had a Knight Fellow who talked about the importance of sports and play. As usual, the school did little if anything with his insights and I had even forgotten it until now. Perhaps he was really on to something or maybe we are just more receptive to physical activitiy now then we were in the early 80's. To come full cirlce, the lawn is almost done, the leaves have been mulched, and the air is filled with cut grass.

The Lives of Others

The German film, The Lives of Others, took me easily out of my world, here at the lake, and set me in East Germany, during the 80's. If, as the book PLAY suggests, a movie can be a form of play, then this movie fits the definition. The two main characters, one, a Stasi agent, someone out of Orwell's 1984, a true believer, with no life other than his work, saving socialism from vermin like his alto ego, the liberal playwright, whose life, unlike the Stasi agent, is filled with ideas, love, women, art, but mostly human emotion, something that seems lacking in everything that surrounds the Stasi. The film takes off when Stasi begins to follow the playwright's life, through mikes and other apparatus set up in the apartment. Gradually, he begins to sympathize with the lives of artists, mostly because he begins to sense the emptiness and futility of his own life, and by extension, the lunacy of spying to preserve something that does not deserve preserving. If anything rings inauthenticate, it's that all of the agents and their apparatus seem typical, grasping, lecherous, power hungry, as they wield their way. Towards the end, the Stasi agent attempts to save the lives of the artist and lover but she, because she had earlier betrayed the playwright, runs into the street in front of a car. As a result of his attempt to save the two, Stasi ends up being demoted, and lives the rest of his life in mundanity of office life. With 1989, things change, the playwright through the freedom of information act, discovers his house had been bugged, realizes the truth, and finds out that the Stasi official actually tried to save his life. He attemtps to meet him, sees him delivering mail, but cannot quite make himself do it. Two years later, a book appears, The Life of a Good Man, the playwrights recreation of the Stasi officia'ls metamorphosis in to a caring human being. The play ends with Stasi seeing the book jacket in a bookstore; he goes in, buys it, and the movie ends. Great peformances by the two male leads, perfectly cast, one mouse like, always dressed in gray, the other flayboyant, good looking, very theatrical and passionate.

Ed Petkovsek's 90th partyLaura visits

Laura and family are visiting for a few days after a going away party this past weekend at Dad's house in Euclid. All the girls were in town for at least four days; we worked much of Friday and Saturday setting up. It rained for the first couple of hours of the party; fortunately, we had canopies set up so people could sit at tables underneath. Henry and I spent most of the first hour grilling in the rain and wind but it stopped for the last two or three hours, which made a big difference. It was fun to see family that I had not seen in years, especially the children of some of the older family members. Many look just like their parents, with a slight change which makes you feel like you know them but don't. At least 130 people came, a tribute to Dad Pet and the affection many have for him. Most were cousins and such, not really close, just relatives of aunts and uncles who knew Dad. Evie and I stayed at Linda and Rich's that evening, a welcome respite from the chaos of the house. We had a nice breakfast, talked about the summer, and then headed back to Petkovsek's, to help clean up, talk, watch golf, and have a hot dog. It was ungodlyg hot and humid; Laura turned on the air conditioner, said if they didn't like it, tough. She wanted it on. Evie and I left around 4:30 for the lake, after saying good by to all. We relaxed on Monday, and Laura and family arrived yesterday, Tuesday, around 2:00. It's been really wet...at least 5 inches of rain in the last three days. Fortunately, it has stopped and the weather looks promisng for the next few days. We were able to swim, play bocce and spend some time outside Tuesday evening. We had chicken piccada for dinner, with wonderful corn. This morning I was up early, as were Evie and Laura, who just returned from kayaking. We are about to have breakfast, at 10:00 as everyone is up. It's beginning to clear up, so I think we will spend a lot of time on the boat, skiing and tubing.

Kayaking at Cassadaga and Sholtz's for dinner

Yesterday, we put our kayaks on car roofs, headed off to Cassadaga Lakes to kayak. We put in at the Public Marina, right next to Lily Dale. We kayaked the north end, towards Lily Day, put in at their public dock, and walked around for an hour, mostly shopping for treasure box gifts. It's a bit run down, but on a beautiful day like yesterday, it's quite picturesque. Lots of little cottages with Medium signs in the door, welcoming all spiritualists who want to commune with the spirits. We then kayaked the south end, towards the village of Cassadaga, wending our way through a narrow passage or water, reminscient of the Chadokon in Jamestown. We drove back, stopping to get fresh eggs and vegetables at a stand, checked out the Ellery Diner, and returned home. We invited the Scholtz's over for dinner, pasta and sauasage and squash. We really enjoyed them, found we had much in common, especially grandchildren, typical stories, as well as travel. Because their daughters worked for airlines in the early 2000's, they were able to travel anywhere free if they were willing to wait for stand by. They have been to every continent, as a result, and are heading to Russia this fall. Majorie just graduated from the Chautauqua Book Club, and told us all about the graduation, which took place over a day an a half, with much pomp and circumstance, including a parade, a band, alums, and a late night candle ceremony. Today we get ready to head to Euclid for the family reunion.

8/4/09

It's around 9:00, I've set up my blog, and will have to see where it takes me. I am not sure how consistent I will be, but it might be fun to see how it works. So far, I have read the NYTimes, sent emails to Drew, Jill, and Beth, with pixs, as well as Katherine Holzheimer. Mom and I are going to kayak over to Long Point soon, walk the lake road or park, then return home. Tonight we are going out with Ron and Linda to quiz night at the Lakeview Hotel. I will continue with this later if I have time or inclination.