Revelation

    Early in my traverse of the land of grief I often wrote about the conspiracy of silence that often descends on the bereaved. After the death of a loved one family/friends hesitate to speak of the deceased out of some discomfort while the bereaved was anxious to hear the name and the stories. Sam, whose own place in the land of grief solidified when his beloved wife, Mary, died last December, sent me this:  "'Our October Book Club read. Quote from Prologue:' "At the very least, we must tell our stories, mustn't we? Speak the names? You know, there's an old proverb that says, 'We die once when the last breath leaves our bodies. We die a second time when the last person speaks our name. The first death is beyond our control, but the second one we can strive to prevent."    Very well said, thanks, Sam.

      Changing the subject radically: I'm perhaps the antithesis of an early adapter.  I've long been aware that I'm a very visual learner; remembering much better what I read than what I hear. These months in self-chosen isolation I've been sustained by reading both in print and on screen. A couple of rainy days spent inside have caused me to realize, that good as my eyes are, I can't read endlessly.

       A couple of times I've listened to podcasts produced by my daughter-in-law for public radio. Today being a rainy day I decided to take the plunge into podcasts. The technology has been available via my IPhone and the handy dandy hearing aids the VA supplied. The audio of the podcast goes directly to my hearing aids so hearing is not an issue.

     Opening the podcast app of the phone Oprah's Book Club pops up and I find she's in conversation with Isabel Wilkerson about Wilkerson's book Caste. Oprah calls it the most important books she's ever read and gave it to all the governors, CEOs of major corporations and many others. Two sessions, of eight, have been recorded. Both of them were fascinating.

      When I reported on the excerpt of  Caste, in The New York Times Magazine, a few days ago I said it was a good companion to Nancy Isenberg's White Trash. In the podcast Wilkerson had this to say about class and caste. She said: "You can act your way out of class, you cannot act your way out of caste."  That's a very helpful distinction. She also said "Color is a fact, race is a social construct" and "caste are the bones and racism is the skin."  I'm eagerly awaiting. the next installment.

     Podcasts are a option for long winter nights, yes, I'm grateful.

Takk for alt,

Al