February 21, 2007

Dear Sis~
There's a program coming on the Discovery channel in early March called Planet Earth which, based upon the previews I'm seeing, should be well worth watching. You may recall that the Discovery channel ran a series a few years back called (if I remember correctly) Blue Planet which was all about the oceans and seas; it was an exceptional series with incredile photography and outstanding science. I'm all for any program which enlightens viewers about the environment and the state of the earth, and opens the mind about where we are going as a species and what we're doing to our planet...

We went on quarterly lockdown last Friday, so I'm sitting here waiting for the wrecking crew to roll through the cellblock and tear up our cells. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week or the week after (lockdown usually lasts 16-20 days)...

This afternoon I was laying here on my bunk, not really meditating, just sort of reflecting, when I suddenly recalled an old memory which is still rather vivid in my mind and which pops into my consciousness from time to time for no discernable reason. I was perhaps 5 or 6, and you were 7 or 8, so it must have been around 1959 or 1960. It was Easter morning and Dad had taken us to an early church service, as a prelude to visiting Mother's grave. Others were with us in the car and I'm guessing it was "Aunt Phyllis" and Uncle Al. What I remember the most is that because it was Easter you'd been dressed up in a new, fancy yellow dress, with a matching bonnet and lots of ribbons. I was in some kind of little boy's suit, too. We were all dressed up and everyone was fussing about your yellow dress. Someone was telling me (as we were standing around outside the car, in the bright morning sunshine) that your dress was yellow because it was Easter and my suit was blue because I was a boy. For some reason all that seemed important. Then we went to Mom's grave and flowers were laid on the grass there. I was too young to grasp the significance of Mom being dead (and, even then, Aunt Phyllis was brainwashing us that she was our mother, so I was definitely confused). But that scene has always been indelibly burned into my consciousness. It's a very pleasant memory, despite the context. It's odd what our childish minds choose to retain, isn't it?...

I'll leave you with that memory (if you recall it!) and mail this off, Sis. Give the doggies a tummy rub for me!

With Love, Bill