A Serpent's Tooth

It's a gorgeous sunny, breezy day out there, and I am going back out in it! Yesterday I snapped up some of the drastically price-reduced perennials and annuals in the "garden shop" of my grocery store and transplanted them into the patchy areas of my various beds and hanging pots, for another round of beauty.

I will take Noah's Compass, by Anne Tyler, outside with me, to re-read sections of it in preparation for tonight's book group, the pontoon-boat version.

Speaking of Book Group, we are now hooked on the tv series via hulu.

Speaking of beauty, this is Lilith, by John Collier, with a serpent not baring its fangs.

The main character of Noah's Compass, Liam Pennywell, has lost his job and is looking over his life, revisiting his relationships with his daughters, his ex-wife, his father, etc., and considering his options in the future. But, as he tells his grandson, who is coloring Noah's ark in a Bible coloring book, "Noah didn't need to figure out directions, because the whole world was underwater and so it made no difference."

While swimming laps this morning, my heart and mind were full of parent-child relationships. I recently saw Romeo and Juliet at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, thanks to theatre reviewer Julie Kistler, and I look forward to her review!

We chatted a bit about how the play gets presented to high school readers--sometimes stressing the rashness of youth (hasty young love!), sometimes the rashness of parents (Juliet's father's cruelty), sometimes the "star-cross'd lovers" aspect, sometimes the folly of blood feuds.

Seeing Juliet and Lord Capulet, we were naturally reminded of Cordelia and King Lear, the one who said, "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child" as part of a longer, bitter curse. Sigh...

All I will say is that we have been very lucky in our children and have navigated the teen years with them without much upset, but that I am looking forward to a placid pontoon ride tonight on Lake Bloomington, with or without a compass!