Life in Silly Valley

 A friend of mine had an unusual 50th birthday request. She asked her friends to send her letters that included a story about someone elderly we have cherished. I decided to write about my Grannie and thought I'd share what I wrote.  My Grandmother was the first person I thought of as being old. My earliest memories of her are from when I was four or five and she was sixty. She seemed like a fairytale grandmother with silver grey hair and wrinkles when she smiled, but I realize she was only ten years older than I am now. She was a remarkable role model for how to age. She had strong opinions about how to make the best of her time: keep mobile by walking everywhere and practicing the Alexander Technique; keep the mind active with writing, conversation, playing cards, reading murders and Shakespeare. Most of all she had an insatiable curiosity for people and their stories, especially young people with backgrounds very different to her own. She fearlessly explored new places, n...

It is somewhat reassuring that the most read story on the BBC website right now (10.41am PST) is 'Johnny Depp leaves the Fantastic Beast Franchise'. Outside America, the world really does continue to turn and banal celebrity gossip rules the day. Stories two through five are about the US election though so I guess 'the world is watching' as the ABC news anchor George Stephanopoulos keeps saying, initially proudly, now resignedly.  I started the day crying while watching t he Late Show with Stephen Colbert from last night. I wasn't crying with laughter; I was genuinely moved seeing this measured comedian moved to tears when he spoke about Trump's statement from the White House last night.   Perhaps getting my news from a late night comedian's opening monologue is equivalent to reading celebrity gossip, I just don't know anymore. It is hard to make judgement calls, where to focus attention, there is just so much crazy going on.  In case you missed it Trum...

The morning dawned foggy here in Northern California and then gradually cleared to blue skies, which mirrored the state of the US election.  After the polls closed on the east coast we got sucked in to ABC News election coverage. As we watched the early tussle over Florida it became clear that there was not going to be a 'blue wave' for Biden or even a clear win, and deep gloom set in. Other states seemed to be leaning towards Trump with huge margins. Even the journalists seemed amazed, though this was the exact 'nightmare' scenario they had been warning us to expect: long delays while mailed-in ballots were counted, states breaking early for Republicans because election day votes would be counted first, followed by Biden closing the gap as mailed-in ballots were counted.  It was hard to stop watching even though there wasn't much happening apart from a lot of talking heads talking about how there wasn't much happening. We suffered through the preposterous '...

So, the Great Leader tested positive on October 1, went to hospital, come out of hospital, and is now in the frenetic last hours of his campaign for re-election. It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks in the US of A, just for a change. I found out about the COVID-19 diagnosis late on a Thursday night in a rather confused conversation with ThingOne. Around 11pm he came bounding into the living room saying, "I have news!" He seemed excited and... not exactly happy... more elated, hyper, bouncing.  I'd just been checking my email and had seen a notification we'd both been sent that a skateboard we'd ordered had been shipped. "Yes, I just saw in my email!" I said, assuming this was what he was talking about. He seemed 'new skateboard' kind of excited. He nodded, "Isn't it crazy? I mean, it figures, we all assumed this would happen, but somehow, you know, I thought it couldn't really actually happen." "Oh really? I don't kn...