For all you celebrating the arrival of Spring, we here in the Pacific Northwest feel compelled to respond that some of us are still in rain and wind and cold. Winter continues to squat above us and while we were delighted to see it in mid-October with all its falling leaves and briskness and pumpkin fields these days it has overstayed its welcome - as it does every damn year.
It would be nice for the sun to pay a visit.
I am in the midst of a round table discussion of Nicholson Baker's new book Human Smoke and I'm struggling mightily because I was very disappointed by this one. The idea of it was appealing and the interesting format - written entirely from various newspaper, book or diary quotes from many different people or about many different people - provides a fascinating broad overview of the pre-WWII period. But the execution didn't work for me and I'm also adrift in the group because my ideas about the events leading up to WWII do not mesh with most of the others. I feel oddly - so unbelievably oddly - like a bit of a warmonger.
I can't begin to tell you how much I disagree with the choices our current president has made concerning Iraq and Afghanistan (starting with the fact that he made them with far too little understanding of those countries' complicated histories) but it's so easy for us to judge him. Hell it's easy for us to judge Clinton, McCain, Obama - it's easy for us to judge everyone.
We weren't there; we will never be there. We just don't know. So there's a point where I have to take a step back and say that pouring over selective excerpts of someone's letters or diaries is just not going to ever give you the whole picture. Because the critical piece of that picture - what goes on in someone's head - is forever unknown.
It's like trying to understand an airplane crash in a way. We analyzed every accident that happened when we were in Alaska (actually my husband and I still do this - out of habit more than anything else). But at the end of the day what went through the guy's head before he hit the ground is his alone. We have four different scenarios for what caused one of our friends to crash and die in the Yukon River in June 1999. But critical pieces of the plane were never recovered and his last words are rushed and incomplete - they were about what he was trying to do and not what brought him to that moment. We just don't know what happened, not completely, and we never will.
Reading and discussing Baker's book has made me realize all over again how much we Monday morning quarterbacks can never fully understand a war especially one with so many disparate elements. Even the people in it can only see their own place in the war - their own view point. What do Americans know about what the Japanese were thinking or the Chinese or the Italians or French or Norwegians or ........? Even the Germans, who have been analyzed to death do not have a single unified answer for their thoughts on the war (which makes sense) so how can we understand them completely?
I found myself slipping into history teacher mode again over the last few days and I know now that wasn't the most effective thing to do. What I wrote was correct but no one wanted to hear it, not really. Everyone has their own ideas about peace and war and what should have been done a long time ago by people long dead, even me. Nicholson Baker clearly has his ideas and he has framed a book that fits them. The fact that he accomplishes this with the words of others makes it no less his agenda though and that's what really frustrated me the most when I read it. He selectively chose these people's words and then he carefully uses them to say what he wants his readers to hear. And it's incomplete but so many people will not see that. That's the thing about history; it's huge and long and sometimes pretty darn boring so most people never stay with it from beginning to end. (Don't even get me started on how dull I find the Pilgrims.) But cutting it into bite-sized pieces isn't the right thing to do either. It's just the historic package you want to present and not the whole truth, not by a long shot.
Mission Accomplished, anyone?
It seems the only time we truly are able to understand history is when the agendas are gone. Maybe that's why it is only the wars of hundreds of years ago that we can really understand; the rest are just too close and we are still too personally attached. (And yes, I'll include myself in that as well.)
Raspberries, my favorite.
but I must be an ignoramus...I don't know what the giant puffball is! Mushroom? Rutabega? What?
Good for you for getting out of the studio for a bit!
I, too, had a moment of mouth-watering at the sight of those raspberries.
West Oxon is looking so much more lovely than Birmingham tonight! About time you had the best part of the day to enjoy it.
:)
Lovely post, just lovely.
Raspberries, my favorite. look sod delicious.
For shame, I have never eaten raspberries...or a puffball (looks like a mushroom, am I right?)
Your surrounding countryside is so beautiful...do you have room for a lodger?
Well I'd say you have it well in hand. (I know, groan, I'm a bit sorry but I had to say it.)
I love it when you take us on field trips.
(())
If I had any money at all, I would be on a plane at this moment! Right now, my dream vacation is to rent a cottage in the Cotswolds, have a car, and just disappear for a month or so.
I like the look of the raspberries best of all ...the countryside looks so appealing!
Never seen wild raspberries - they look delicious. Must admit to having used giant puffballs as footballs when a child - sorry!!(It is quite spectacular......)
It figures the sun would shine as soon as I left England, sigh. Your lovely images make me miss the English countryside all the more. Although Maine is nice too - we have raspberries and blueberries growing wild in our backyard. They must have been planted by birds.
It was fun to see your workspace too. It sounds like you've been busy with work just as I've been busy with packing-moving-unpacking. I'm looking forward to getting back to painting too. So nice to catch up with you! I've added you to my blog's sidebar so I don't lose track of you again.
What did the puff ball taste like, Gretel? I only ever come across them after they've ripened and live up to their name.
hi Mr Adanaland! Andy and I were in dispute about it - when I'd sliced them (as shown) I fried them in butter and added them to a pork casserole I'd had going in the slow cooker. Andy said he didn't think it had much taste. I disagreed - it didn't have as much flavour as the small puffballs, which go crsipily nice, but it tasted more or less like a normal mushroom. But there was lots of it - and it was free!
This post is so wonderful... I love how it flows. I can see it translating into a great picture book. Oops... did I say a "dirty word"? ;)
Cindy at Rosehaven Cottage
Mmmmmmm..... Glad to see you making it outside. :-)
I've never eaten a puffball, would love to try.
P.
I've never seen wild raspberries, they look lovely. And I haven't seen a giant puffball either, that one looks magnificent. Ooo I can just taste crispy mushrooms!
Yum, puffball, fields look like quilt pieces, warm and cozy, I want to curl up on them and nap.
The raspberries seem to be the biggest hit!
Not a surprise there.
I have never eaten a wild mushroom after my mother told me she nearly killed my dad and herself cooking a 'mushroom' pie from ones she found in the park.
Dad looked them up.........they had scrambled eggs instead.
I do miss England.
what a fun post! I saw an 8 point buck myself this weekend. He gallantly leapt out of the trees and stopped in the middle of the road, made eye contact with me and then retreated back to where he came from. Luckily I was on a slow drive and had plenty of time to stop and just admire him.
Thanks for adding me to your blog roll, I have done likewise. You are very brave to eat fungi! I love Jay feathers so pretty.
Lovely pictures! It reads just like a picture book, I think secretly you're full of potential books...;)
I enjoyed reading your blog. My grandson brought home a Blue Jay feather last week from his trip to the Texas Gulf Coast. No shells, just bird feathers.
We used to have Blue Jays, Red Birds, Blue Birds, and all sorts of birds, but we only see the occasional Red Bird now. Robins, sparrows, and quite a few birds from the north spend the winter here.
I really like the way that you presented your pictures in this post. What a beautiful area!
I'll say it too -- such a nice post. And that fabulous view of West Oxfordshire is out of a storybook. Mushrooms and raspberries and deer, oh my... it is a bit magical, isn't it?
Jenny
prey tell is that a type of mushroom? the puffball I mean? I loathe mushrooms unless there's a fairy sitting on or under one for show. BUT it looks interesting nonetheless.
Ah but the raspberries, that's another story entirely.....mouth watering!
XOXO