1. Bill, Diane, Bridgit, and I joined on ZOOM today for a riveting and serious discussion of the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health decision, made public on Friday. Out of respect for confidentiality, I won't detail our discussion.
I can say, though, that our discussion was, for me, a continuation of conversations that began with my mother nearly sixty years ago and that continued with women fifty years ago when I was a student at NIC and then as a student and an employee at Whitworth and these conversations continued in grad school, my years of employment at LCC, and at St. Mary's Episcopal Church.
My life has been rich with friendships with women willing to talk with me about their experiences within themselves and in the world that are unique from anything I experience as a man. These friends have significantly influenced some of what I read, some of the music I listen to, and many of the movies I watch. When the Zoom conversation ended, Debbie and I had the next of countless conversations we've had over our twenty-five years together about matters similar to what Diane, Bridgit, Bill, and I discussed this afternoon.
2. Debbie and I also partied together for a while late this afternoon. I opened the new bottle of Bulliet bourbon I walked down to the liquor store and bought around noon and we enjoyed a couple of drinks together. After eating some leftover turkey soup, I retired to the Vizio room, fired up the Fire stick, and consulted the catalog of different shows and movies Debbie has purchased over the years.
I decided to watch an episode of Major Crimes, a show Debbie has loved to watch and one that, along with The Closer, Mom and Debbie used to enjoy watching together.
The actual crimes committed and solved on Major Crimes don't stick with me as much as the superb characters this show develops and their fascinating interactions. Mostly what sticks with me is Mary McDonnell's work bringing the complex and intriguing character Captain Sharon Raydor to life. Captain Raydor is by turns enigmatic, savvy, compassionate, calculating, and firm in her resolve. I might forget from one episode to the next what the nature of the crime she and the officers under her supervision worked to solve, but I never forget the fierce intelligence of Captain Sharon Raydor.
3. After I finished watching an episode of Major Crimes, I was stimulated, feeling energetic, and had it in me to watch one more crime show.
I haven't yet watched every episode of every season of Foyle's War, so I picked up where I last left off and watched the second episode of Season 6.
It was sobering. Entitled, "Broken Souls", this episode focused primarily on psychologically damaged soldiers having returned home from WWII and the doctors who treat their trauma.
So while the murder cases Foyle investigates and solves are an important part of the story, the devastating impact of the war on surviving soldiers and upon the marital lives of these soldiers -- as well as other aspects of their lives -- and the difficulties their cases present to those who would treat or comfort them, is what is most memorable about this story. As is always the case in Foyle's War, we see that the devastating effects of WWII press down upon life in and around the town of Hastings whether the actual bombings and battles are near by or far away. In this way, Foyle's War parallels the point Yehuda Amachai's poem, "The Diameter of the Bomb" which I posted last week.
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