Winter In April

[mallorys_camera]

Apocalyptic weather patterns continue. Got woken up yesterday morning at 5:30am by the Dryden School District -- where Robin doesn’t go -- informing me that schools would be closed due to inclement weather conditions. Poked my head outside and found five inches of snow.

Two days before it had been in the high 70s, a veritable Garden of Eden with the last of the daffodils and the back acreage a carpet of tiny, exquisite violets.

Accuweather says winter was on a switch delay this year, high pressure front bottlenecking frigid Arctic coldfronts for months. I guess the switch turned back on.

Bad weather brought with it a return of panic attacks and a low level of chronic anxiety. I guess I really do have SAD -- possibly connected to a Vitamin D deficiency. After making progress on the To Do list,once again I'm stalled. I think what katestine said about being trapped in the algorythmn is very true.

RTT and I went to see Jeff Who Lives At Home Sunday. I give it an “Eh - “ -- one or two funny scenes but ascension of the eponymous slacker to Buddahood plus Susan Sarandon’s effortless conversion to Lesbianism were exactly the kind of feel-good notes that make me want to pummel a screen with rotten tomatoes.

But RTT shocked me on the ride home by giving me an amazingly cogent analysis of the film and an equally amazing analysis of what will happen to France and the EU if -- as seems likely -- Sarkozy doesn’t get reelected. Robin's smarter than I am, I thought. If you have brilliant children, eventually it always comes to that, the Childhood's End moment. It’s a source of pride, of course, but also a source of some resentment -- like my DNA used me as a stepping stone to get ahead and now is tossing me aside without a second glance or chance.

Comments

[anais-pf.livejournal.com]

*making a note to pack snow gear*

[mallorys-camera.livejournal.com]

Actually, it's supposed to be sunny this coming weekend though a little on the cold side (in the 40s.)

[bandicoot.livejournal.com]

People as such wusses nowdays. Growing up in MN, 5 inches of snow was a yawner. I can't remember a snow day for less than 3 feet, and then it had to be howling wind and drifts. I blame it all on the self-serving Teachers Unions and George W. Bush ;p

I still think you should have sold RTT and made your fortune while you had the chance. Before, you know, you got attached to him ;)

[mallorys-camera.livejournal.com]

I heard an NPR story about teachers' pensions a couple of days ago -- amazing that many school districts are now paying out more in pension costs than they are in running actual schools.

Yeah, I should have exploited RTT while I had the chance, for sure. Now, if I'm lucky, maybe he'll let me sleep in his basement.

[lethe1]

like my DNA used me as a stepping stone to get ahead and now is tossing me aside without a second glance or chance.

I can understand the resentment, but I love the way you phrased this.

What was Robin's verdict on France and the EU, should Sarkozy be re-elected?

[mallorys-camera.livejournal.com]

Yes, RTT thinks Sarkozy should be elected. He thinks that without Sarkozy, the EU will fall apart.

"Why would that be a problem?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes and gave me a 10 minute lecture on inflation.

Ultimately, Robin seems to think the fate of the world depends upon a one world government model. I couldn't disagree more, personally, since I believe the only effective governance is local governance.

"A one world government could never be a republic," I said. "It would have to be some topdown authoritarian model."

"Probably," he said. "But in an interconncted world, you have to have a strong central government. It's the only model that works."

[sulphuroxide.livejournal.com]

society as a whole puts a premium on smarts. but there's much more to life than being smart, you know that. like opportunity and a chance to have exposure to something. not to say robin isn't amazing -- he sounds like it. but you are a different person than he is; with different strengths and weaknesses... we can't be everything all at once at all times.

[mallorys-camera.livejournal.com]

True, we can't be everything at once. But it's a very odd feeling to see a child you've given birth to, whose development you have nurtured, go off on his own direction. That Arthur C. Clark novel Childhood's Endis really the best metaphor I know for describing it.

[sulphuroxide.livejournal.com]

i love that book. i guess, what you are describing with robin makes me think that maybe i did that to my parents too. idk. i have mixed feelings.

[dinahprincedaly.livejournal.com]

yup we be stepping stones

[mallorys-camera.livejournal.com]

Indeed.

[slfisher.livejournal.com]

Upstate New York closed school because of five inches of snow? hahahahahahaha