It suddenly struck – that I am an anomaly, it struck me without a great deal of joy. There is no doubt that I am something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected. I suppose I have always been an anomaly but it is only getting worse. I am atypical, nontypical, irregular, aberrant, exceptional, freakish, odd, bizarre, peculiar, unusual, out of the ordinary, inconsistent, incongruous, deviant, deviating, divergent, eccentric; rare, singular, backasswards. I am not normal, typical, regular. It is rather fun to consider myself backasswards.
This morning I am ‘out of sorts’ – the staff at this Rixos Resort are so caring, noticing immediately my mood and expressing concern. It was so touching! FAM, whom I deeply respect said:
He: You are the perfect guest.
Me: Thank you so much! You are a perfect employee, otherwise how could your nickname be Fabulous Awesome Manager.
Not sure what is causing this downward trend in my mood. I feel nauseous. Usually I experience fantastic health so this is rare. Is this nausea the cause or the result of my mood? No idea.
Now it occurs, that upon coming to the Rixos, I hit the deck running, as the expression goes.
‘Hit the Ground Running’ means to immediately start an activity and work very hard and with full commitment. Where does the expression come from? “The riders had to be fast so they would ride their horses quickly and “hit the ground running” when changing to a fresh horse in order to avoid delays. However it started, the expression saw a surge in popularity in the 1970s and has seen widespread use ever since.” Another source says it is to Seize an opportunity; begin at full speed. For example, As soon as the front office gave its approval for the new department, we hit the ground running. The origin of this term is disputed. It may come from troops dropped into a combat zone, from stowaways jumping off a freight train as it nears the station, or from Pony Express riders avoiding delay when they changed mounts.
My commitment, my seizing the opportunity seems to have been to form a family – to adopt staff sons and daughters from various countries. I have no idea why that seemed to be such a good idea – but it has been fun. So many countries already – such diversity, India, the Philippines, France, Turkey, Serbia, Uganda. Then yesterday met two absolutely charming young girls from England and began collecting grandchildren. One young woman, whose self chosen nickname is HOT adroitly put everything in perspective. Upon meeting FAM:
She: That is my Uncle.
Me: You are absolutely brilliant! That is correct.
She is most creative and did absolutely love the exercise of recognizing her ‘relatives’ which also included her Philippine Aunt. She is amazing – an author at her young age. We are thinking of partnering. She will be the poet and I the prose person, replicating In Conversation and In Contemplation. Companionship at the Tate Britain. We shall see, it would be great fun.
But in my zeal, in my rush to seize an opportunity I forgot that I am here at the Rixos to rest, at least in the initial days. I was not listening to my inner core, not listening to Allah so I was temporarily shut down. As I presently write most of the morning has now lapsed, came back to my room from breakfast, went back to bed. My Uganda daughter cleaned, we chatted as she worked with me remarking on the absolute freedom of having someone cleaning for you, also I have the privilege of people cooking for me, serving me, making me coffee etc. etc. etc.
Me: I am beginning to feel like a Queen, with all of this luxury.
She: Well, you are a Queen to me.
Pondered the title of my book – In Conversation and In Contemplation. What is contemplation? It is the action of looking thoughtfully at something for a long time and/or deep reflective thought. Synonyms are: meditation, consideration, pondering, reflection, thinking, musing, rumination, deliberation, cogitation, reverie, concentration, introspection, cerebration. So Jessica and I reflected, thought, mused and concentrated I do wonder what Hot and I shall do – perhaps ponder, think, ruminate and deliberate?
This is now very early morning – the day after Thanksgiving in the USA. Wise Man texted three emoji turkeys, I was most flattered, but realized that this Thanksgiving for was the antithesis of a family Thanksgiving. I did always love that holiday and took great delight in assembling and cooking and eating fine food. Antithesis is the direct opposite of a thing, the converse, reverse, reversal, inverse, obverse; the other extreme, the other side of the coin, the flip side.
I did manage a late lunch consisting of shrimp and tomato risotto and a delicious chicken dish – both cooked by the Italian food station at Turquoise Restaurant. Then complimented the chef – telling him exactly why the risotto was superb (which it was).
Upstairs to the lobby for some necessary transactions and to visit my Egyptian son, Fatigue struck – laid on a couch sending a text to Grandson showing him that is Granny was not well.
Then went back to bed, to sleep – to wake twelve hours later.
In retrospect, it was clear that I had burned my candle at both ends. That phrase was coined by the American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay in 1920. It comes from her poem “First Fig”: “My candle burns at both ends; / It will not last the night; / But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends– / It gives a lovely light!”
Knew I had used the poem before in the blog – used the search engine of the blog finding the June 22 2019 blog which is entitled: Burning the Candle At Both Ends; Defining Intimacy and Purging; A Rude Person Solution; I Defenestrate You From My Life; Ending With a Bacon Sandwich. It is an interesting read, rather fascinating actually. I had forgotten but I had a grandson back then – met him on Instagram, went to his wedding in Las Vegas but did not attend as he neglected to tell me where it was to be held. What did I do. Blocked him from Instagram and never heard from him again. I think he lived in Missouri. Now I have a different grandson who was born in Pakistan and lives in Dubai. I am reminded of that expression:
Easy Come, Easy Go. It is “used especially in spoken English to indicate that a relationship or possession acquired without effort may be abandoned or lost without regret.” It is an ancient Chinese expression from 400 B.C.
It is a song, Google it and listen. It is fun, here are the lyrics:
I’m taking the shade out of the sun
Whatever made me think that I was number one
I oughta know, easy come, easy go
Sitting’ it out, now I’m spinnin’ the dial\
Just thinking’about the chump I’ve been, I have to smile
Didn’t know, easy come, easy go
She wasn’t kind, I wasn’t smart
I had to find myself in time
Now I can start all over again
Just Haning’ around, takin’it slow
So happy I found I can still smile and dig the show
Lettin’ me know, easy come, easy go, all right
She wasn’t kind, I wasn’t smart
I lost my mind and fell apart.
Just Hangin’ around, taking it slow
So happy I found I still can smile and dig the show.
This has been a rather edifying blog – realizing that I have a new Grandson, that I have a potential new poet for a new book. It was not easy or edifying to go to Las Vegas to a wedding that apparently took place but without my presence. My present grandson is respectful, he is of the faith, he has minimal social media exposure. My potential partner poet is young, energetic, at the cusp of her life. Jessica was not any of those things and has disappeared from my life. Well, they have one thing in common – they both live in London.
But there has been a change – no more bacon sandwiches for me. Muslims do not eat pork.
The contrast between yesterday morning and this morning is mind boggling. One thing is fundamentally true – I am an anomaly.
Two photographs will accompany this blog. One is of a portion of breakfast eaten this morning – it is my Thanksgiving as it is turkey – smoked thigh turkey and turkey breast – with a roll and thyme butter. The meat is Halal, so not offending Muslim dietary restrictions. It was earn at 7 pm on Thanksgiving Day in California, allowing for the time difference. It was a magnificent morning with much to be grateful for. A walk along the beach meeting two interesting women. A man whose job it is to pick up garbage from the beach helped me walk through the drifts of sand – difficult with the left knee. Then a Rixos Resort life guard (from Russia) helped me up the wooden stairs. Then off to breakfast. I could not ask for a better day. All Praise to Allah.
The other photograph is of a man who ‘proposed’ the day before yesterday. I do have a sense of realism that has been very hard won. I have received at least five proposals from men on Instagram. This one is from Pakistan, says he. From Lahore. But many things do not fit – says he is a Muslim but does not have a hairy chest. Now that, is in a way funny but difficult to explain. Anyway I wrote to Chris, the blog master with this subject line: New Guy Apparently.
Me: Handsome you do have to admit. Probably not him as we ‘met’ on Instagram. Blog will follow later.
He: No response as yet. Chris is a different time zone.
