Tinkerbell Day 36 Y2

                   Tinkerbell by Dawn Elise Evans

My computer is out of room. It's a MacBook Air and I have been urging it to be a MacBook Pro.  Unfortunately, my good intentions do not suffice to change it's architecture.  The 8000 photos that I have stored on this laptop are using too much space. I started to transfer photographs to an external hard drive, but ran into a snag when I tried to manipulate them.  To make a long story short, I have been faced with purging as many photos as possible.  By doing so, I will free up my computer to rip ahead with new creative ventures.  As I deleted, I did my best to drag and drop the selected photos into the garbage with as little emotional attachment as possible.  I said to myself, 

"This one is blurry.  This one is a duplicate.   This one is over -exposed,  under-exposed.  Wait!  This one is Tinkerbell!  Without any retouch or revision, the picture snared my immediate attention.  At a time in my life that seems particularly fraught with challenges and grey skies, the unheralded visit of Tinkerbell in a random photo causes me to pause, for just an instant, and smile.  "If you believe in fairies, then clap your hands.  Tinkerbell, will get well, if you clap your hands."  The familiar words from Peter Pan run through my thoughts.   I did not delete this photo.   

A Bridge and a Prayer Day 35 Y2

Light-filled walkway

A close friend of mine had a stroke a few days ago.  His wife, who is one of my dearest friends, is handling the uncertainty with grace and tremendous strength.  I checked into  

a nearby hotel so I could be available if I could be of any help to her or their family. When she called to ask me to come see her, I knew the way.  Past experience taught me that there was a convoluted path to the hospital; by using an interior system of walkways, bridges and tunnels, several Boston area hospitals are connected to each other.  As I wended my way to the hospital, my mind was full of angst and tumult.  I wondered how I would collect myself before I saw my friend. Just then, I glimpsed a sign that directed me to one more walkway before the escalator that would deposit me in the hospital’s main lobby.  It was there that I intended to meet my friend. I rounded the corner to the walkway and I was literally, bathed, simply awash, in sunshine. The light cascaded in through the glass from all directions.  I stood absolutely still for a moment.  Waves of people flowed around me, moving like the tide in, the tide out.  I was overcome by the brilliance of white light that streamed into the area.  Just as my thoughts had gone to a very dark place, light flooded my vision and they disappeared. 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil -- 
Thou art with me.

With the comforting words of the Lord’s prayer echoing in my head, I moved forward. 

Television in My Life

When I was a child, my parents granted me the special privilege of having a television set in my room. I spent more time than I would like both in, and on, my bed. I converted my bed into a ship, booking passage to far away places. When my books grew boring, I turned to television. My father had purchased a “remote control” unit that plugged into the small black and white television I had been privileged to receive. The remote control consisted of a long cord ending in a small cylinder with a button. On/off functions were the total of its functions. I memorized the theme songs (and wrote lyrics when I deemed it necessary) to the Dick VanDyke Show, Bewitched, The Andy Griffith Show, Petticoat Junction, I Spy, Star Trek, The Man from Uncle, Laugh-in, Superman, The Partridges, the Waltons and multitudes of others. With the advent of readily accessible digital recordings, characters, plots and music from my past can now spill directly out of my laptop in some kind of distorted mirror of my childhood memories. Thanks to Infinity, curtesy of Comcast, I can slow down, stop moving so fast. I manage to make the morning last.
More than forty years have passed. My bed is larger, my boat sails further.
Now I am watching shows with more complex plots and less memorable theme songs.
Many are British or less-favored American shows such as: Doc Martin, Monarch of the Glen, Persons Unknown, Inspector Lewis, A Touch of Frost, and Kidnapped. In addition, a whole new genre of reality shows was spawned. It is simply impossible to compare The Bachelor or Survivor with Murphy Brown or Get Smart. They are in a league of their own.
There are people who have opined that television is a contributing factor to the downfall of American culture and literacy. What if they are wrong? I have managed to read one to three books a week for my entire adult life. I am inspired by how both books and television provide grist for the mill. I am able to synthesize new thoughts.
What I know for sure is that I am grateful to have a companion that does not require feeding, responds to my commands, serves to distract and educate me and grants me free-range on a planet of which I have seen little.
I continue my love affair with books, but I definitely have a place for television in my life.
Day 36