"Moody" and "Flight"

Tim at Grand Canyon

Plein Air at Night (artist Brenda Behr)

Here are two of my pix that got 1st place in the Coastal Photo Club of New Bern "mini-competition" for January.  The theme was "moody."

Today is a "moody" sort of day.  It rained all day yesterday, and most of today.  The geese swam in a line upstream, then swam in a line downstream.  That kind of day. It is a day to delete over 100 old e-mails from one's in-box.  A day to think about working out, but probably not actually doing it. Ditto finishing the bathroom painting project. A day to download from National Public Radio a free blues number by Gregg Allman. A day to consume a small packet of trail mix that was in one's husband's Christmas stocking.  A day to abjure the writing of poetry about rain and the photographing of geese--both phenomena compelling to contemplate, with the recognition that it's impossible to convey their essence with any originality.

Tonight, however, will be a lively sort of night.  We are attending an ECU Pirates basketball game.  It is convenient that the Pirates have the same team color as the Lord Jeffs; one can re-purpose one's purple hoody.   There's just something about all these people wearing purple, the odd exertions of cheerleaders, and drama of sport that is reassuring.  Especially if one's team wins. As members of the Pirate Club (at the Buccaneer level, I believe), we have reached another level of integration into our new community.

Hosting a gathering of the Newcomers Club book group was another milestone in resettlement. I served homemade mango lassis and the salty/spicy snack chana-chur, since we were reading The Space Between Us by Thrity Umigar, set in Mumbai. I'm not sure how well these exotic refreshments went over, but the effort was appreciated. The discussion generated uneasiness when somehow we got into religion, and the Christians in the group were a little baffled as to why there shouldn't be an emphasis on their religion in public school curricula....but I think we recovered enough to be able to forge ahead to the next gathering, to discuss A Long and Happy Life by Reynolds Price (who died last month).  With a novel set in rural North Carolina, perhaps there will be less tension--although maybe we will get into politics rather than religion. As if there is a difference.  But what will the hostess serve?  Skimming swiftly through the book, which I haven't started yet, I see references to pecans, chicken pie, "canned oysters for a big fry," and, not surprisingly, biscuits (see blog post of January 29). Sounds like a well-rounded North Carolina feed, actually; the only thing missing is collards.

The theme for the next Coastal Photo Club of New Bern "mini-competition" is "flight."  Hard to imagine, on a moody sort of day.  My only potential entry so far is an ECU male cheerleader in mid back-flip. 

Go, Pirates.