Spring has sprung!

I will soon need a new picture for this Blog. The last of the snow melted under this week's balmy weather, and although it is snowing today, it isn't accumulating. Taxes are almost done, and for the first time in ages, I owe.

As I look inward, I have some doubts. At a meeting today, the men who called the meeting didn't meet my eye. I sat quietly and let them speak, but I wonder if it appeared to them to be a stony silence, or worse, an antagonism. I admit that I took offense at their criticism veiled as a review of the work of our mutual ministry. I also cannot understand what bothers them so much about me. I wish I could understand and give them what they want. Meanwhile, they feel like they are inimical. But on the other hand, is my stony silence so strong and impressive that grown men cannot meet my eye? Hmmmm.


I sing TS Eliot's Lovesong of Alfred J Prufrock:
...No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,

Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous—
Almost, at times, the Fool.

I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach...

That is how I think of myself, and yet, I am NOT politic, I cannot advise the prince, and I cannot fade away and spend my remaining days on the beach. I can not stand by quietly. I barge in like the Prince's peasant servant, eager to work, unaware of subtleties like tact or planning.

Damn, I wish I were a magician.