Mrs. Teabody Is Rescued By Shakespeare!
Good Morning, Gentle Reader. Mrs. Teabody's teacher friends everywhere are polishing off the last crumbs of the academic year, and Mrs. Teabody conveys her deepest regard for a job well done and exhorts each one of them to relegate any thoughts of August to the farthest reaches of their brains and embrace the summer holiday on a day-to-day basis. Live each moment.
In high schools and colleges everywhere, young men and women are marching into auditoriums clothed in the most unusual costume of gowns and mortarboards. Surrounded by the pomp and circumstance of this occasion, these young people will grasp a document with one hand and accept a congratulatory handshake -- perhaps it is his or her FIRST handshake! - - and in that moment that young man or woman is forever changed. Regardless of how tedious/absurd/glorious the ceremony might seem to its participants, it is often such a ceremony that spurs future efforts, and it is a rite of passage not to be taken lightly. Congratulations, Graduates! Mrs. Teabody is pictured above with three young men on graduation night in 2005. Seven years have passed since that night. All three young men have gone on to lead successful lives, but what looks of wonder, dismay, puzzlement, incomprehension come over their still youthful visages when they are reminded that seven years have passed so quickly. Forty-nine years ago Mrs. Teabody wore a gown and mortarboard, received a document, shook hands for the first time. How is it possible? How could forty-nine years evaporate so quickly? How can anyone at this end of life explain to someone at the other end of life how important, how special, how wonderful every single day of life is? Live each moment.
On May 29 a tempest descended upon the small shire shortly before four o'clock in the afternoon. The air crackled with thunder and lightning. Rain fell in sheets. Streets became streams. Mrs. Teabody found herself alone trapped inside Tickle Your Fancy as the storm raged outside. Mrs. Teabody does not list "courage in the face of thunderstorms" among her character traits. Truth to tell, Mrs. Teabody (along with the Duchess Ming) trembles and shakes and, by times, even hides. Such cowardice is more acceptable if you, Gentle Reader, are reminded that Chez Teabody was once struck by lightning. Yes, Mon Dieu! And that single charged nano-second rendered thousands of dollars worth of electronic equipment useless. Mrs. Teabody has such a profound reverence and fondness for her own circuitry that she chooses to stay out of harm's way. In the shelter of the tearoom, Mrs. Teabody reached for her well-used tome of Shakespeare's collected works and turned appropriately enough to THE TEMPEST. For the uninitiated, THE TEMPEST begins with a storm at sea, and the dialogue creates a sense of urgency and danger. No one is foolish enough to believe the END of the tale comes in Act I scene i, and a few passages along there is a marvelous little speech by Gonzalo. Observing the Boatswain, Gonzalo assures himself that he will not perish in the tempest as the Boatswain has the look of a man who will die by hanging -- not by drowning: "Methinks he hath no drowning mark upon him; his complexion is perfect gallows."Buoyed up by this, Mrs. Teabody was soon engrossed in Shakespeare's marvelous tale, and the tempest outside fell to naught. By the time Miranda had fallen in love, the strength of the tempest had abated. Mrs. Teabody had found a way to live each moment but to divert the fear by transporting herself out of fear and into delight.
Ta for now!
In high schools and colleges everywhere, young men and women are marching into auditoriums clothed in the most unusual costume of gowns and mortarboards. Surrounded by the pomp and circumstance of this occasion, these young people will grasp a document with one hand and accept a congratulatory handshake -- perhaps it is his or her FIRST handshake! - - and in that moment that young man or woman is forever changed. Regardless of how tedious/absurd/glorious the ceremony might seem to its participants, it is often such a ceremony that spurs future efforts, and it is a rite of passage not to be taken lightly. Congratulations, Graduates! Mrs. Teabody is pictured above with three young men on graduation night in 2005. Seven years have passed since that night. All three young men have gone on to lead successful lives, but what looks of wonder, dismay, puzzlement, incomprehension come over their still youthful visages when they are reminded that seven years have passed so quickly. Forty-nine years ago Mrs. Teabody wore a gown and mortarboard, received a document, shook hands for the first time. How is it possible? How could forty-nine years evaporate so quickly? How can anyone at this end of life explain to someone at the other end of life how important, how special, how wonderful every single day of life is? Live each moment.
On May 29 a tempest descended upon the small shire shortly before four o'clock in the afternoon. The air crackled with thunder and lightning. Rain fell in sheets. Streets became streams. Mrs. Teabody found herself alone trapped inside Tickle Your Fancy as the storm raged outside. Mrs. Teabody does not list "courage in the face of thunderstorms" among her character traits. Truth to tell, Mrs. Teabody (along with the Duchess Ming) trembles and shakes and, by times, even hides. Such cowardice is more acceptable if you, Gentle Reader, are reminded that Chez Teabody was once struck by lightning. Yes, Mon Dieu! And that single charged nano-second rendered thousands of dollars worth of electronic equipment useless. Mrs. Teabody has such a profound reverence and fondness for her own circuitry that she chooses to stay out of harm's way. In the shelter of the tearoom, Mrs. Teabody reached for her well-used tome of Shakespeare's collected works and turned appropriately enough to THE TEMPEST. For the uninitiated, THE TEMPEST begins with a storm at sea, and the dialogue creates a sense of urgency and danger. No one is foolish enough to believe the END of the tale comes in Act I scene i, and a few passages along there is a marvelous little speech by Gonzalo. Observing the Boatswain, Gonzalo assures himself that he will not perish in the tempest as the Boatswain has the look of a man who will die by hanging -- not by drowning: "Methinks he hath no drowning mark upon him; his complexion is perfect gallows."Buoyed up by this, Mrs. Teabody was soon engrossed in Shakespeare's marvelous tale, and the tempest outside fell to naught. By the time Miranda had fallen in love, the strength of the tempest had abated. Mrs. Teabody had found a way to live each moment but to divert the fear by transporting herself out of fear and into delight.
Life has its ups and downs, its peaks and valleys, its sunny days and its tempests. And like in all the best books and plays someone just like you manages to triumph, perhaps greatly altered but nonetheless still alive. Not swirled away at sea. Not struck by lightning. Circuits still working. Make the best of it, Gentle Reader. Do. Live each moment.
Ta for now!
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