Mrs. Teabody Gets Lost in the Past

If you were sitting here next to Mrs. Teabody, Gentle Reader, (and you were awake) you would see the promise of yet another  beautiful morning to your left. The bare forrest gives Mrs. Teabody a mountain-meets-the-sky horizon as far as the eye can see. A slender sickle moon hangs against a grey-blue still-night sky a little above the horizon just now gathering pale orange, pale rose. Mrs. Teabody hopes you greet the day with a sight that gives you such indescribable hope and joy. Mrs. Teabody shared her growing up years with  three sisters in a large, east-facing bedroom with three windows turned toward the sun, one window to the cold north, and one window to the sunny south. How fortunate! Do you not agree, Gentle Reader?

If you were sitting here, Mrs. Teabody would make you a nice cuppa Adagio "Irish Breakfast," and once you had imbibed its heartiness, you would be ready to "whip your weight in wild cats" as Mrs. Teabody's father was wont to say. Mrs. Teabody does not like to think too long on how many wild cats that might be in her case having had the  misfortune of stepping onto the scale this morning. Mon Dieu! Hard to imagine that Pinot and Wisconsin sharp could ratchet up a number so quickly, but perhaps the idle hours catching up with her friends at "Downton Abbey" is in part to blame.

For the uninitiated, Mr. Wikipedia provides the following explanation: "The series is set in the fictional Downton Abbey, the Yorkshire country house of the Earl and Countess of Grantham, and follows the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants during the reign of King George V. The first series spans the two years before the Great War beginning with news of the sinking of the Titanic, which sets the story in motion. The second series covers the years 1916 to 1919, and the 2011 Christmas Special December covers the 1919 Christmas period, ending in early 1920."

Mrs. Teabody's mother was born in 1918, her father in 1915, so this was the era of her grandparents and photographs from that period show a very different time, a very different sensibility. Every time Mrs. Teabody allows herself to think beyond a superficial skim about the so-called Great War, she wrestles with heartbreak. Again from Mr. Wikipedia: "World War I . The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I was over 35 million. There were over 15 million deaths and 20 million wounded ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history.The total number of deaths includes about 10 million military personnel and about 7 million civilians." "Downton Abbey" attempts to show the reach of the war into the lives of the inhabitants there, including those "to the manor born." How Mrs. Teabody wishes she lived in a less violent society-- one that had learned something from this conflict. 

Luckily, the story does not take place exclusively along the front lines. No, this is a show with high regard for propriety, manners, decor and, most importantly (for some people who shall remain nameless), fashion.

Mrs. Teabody often longs for the past. Would it not be wonderful to un-hook from all the gadgetry for one single day? To walk into a restaurant where people sit opposite one another talking to EACH OTHER instead of sending text messages to an un-present SOMEONE ELSE who is/must be more important  than the person he/she is dining with?  Mrs. Teabody recently read on Facebook of a young couple who were sitting next to each other sending text messages to each other. To what end? Mr. and Mrs. Teabody can not imagine using time together in such wasteful fashion! Mon Dieu!

Perhaps today is a day to pay homage to the past in a few small ways. Turn off the cellular phones, turn off the computers, turn off the television sets and radios in all permutations and simply talk to one another. Take a walk through the woods. Hold hands or go arm-in-arm. Have a cuppa together. And when someone talks, listen to him or her. Send back a clever retort. Tell an amusing story. Talk.  Listen. To. Each. Other.  Who knows? You might quite enjoy it. It might even bring about one of those smiles for which you are so famous, Gentle Reader. And Mrs. Teabody cannot think of anything she would enjoy more.

 Ta for now, Darlings!