One highlight and much sleep

Dear friends and family,

Yesterday had one highlight, the monthly lunch that a group of us attend at the Jolly Fisherman. It's always fun to be together and chat about this and that: books, movies, events in our lives. Joan L. picked me up and took me home to give us time to talk. Joan is always so upbeat.

After that, it was straight to bed. I surfaced once in a while to check the weather. The plan had been to leave about 4 p.m. for Woodbridge, CT, and go the next day to the Rudichs' 60th anniversary party. Our Woodbridge son Harvey thought the weather looked chancy. Merwin concurred. So we stayed home and I remained mostly in bed. Leftovers for dinner; my lights off at 7 p.m. It seems that a very full day will naturally be followed by a day of recouping. I don't want to imply that I did nothing: there were emails,personal, professional and medical; there was more tossing out of old papers. My sitting room is getting neater and more pleasant.

In bed, I read yesterday's Op-Ed piece "Fade to White" by Ishmael Reed in the NYT, who, as an African American, deplores the use White Americans make of Precious. He hates the film. It's one that Merwin and I deemed too painful to see, but it isn't its pain that upsets Reed: it's its racism. He notes the enthusiasm of white audiences and the revulsion of black audiences.

It made me think of my reaction, not fully expressed, about the Sandra Bullock film Blind Side that I described yesterday. It has the same negative depiction of the black guys from the hood, the savior who is white and only because Michael has a special something that can elicit the saving instinct in the rich, white woman who saves him, who finds his mother and talks to her mother to mother, who reams out the leader of the gang who threatens her and her "son." Then there is the black woman, a functionary, who seems determined to demonize Michael's new family and temporarily makes him lose faith in them and their motives. There is much more to be said about the film, but I will leave that to others. If you have seen it and have ideas about it I welcome your thoughts. The point is that there is more to think about in the film than one might expect.

Yesterday was the 41st anniversary of the death of Merwin's sister Essie. It clutches my heart to write those words. She was a dear friend who taught me a lot about joy in the world.

Thinking of all of you, friends and family, on this grey day on Long Island.

Love,
Bernice