August and everything after

Here’s a shocker: I don’t think I’ll have to work this weekend. Unfathomable! Even on weekends when I’m away from home, I still have work that I should be doing. But the last time there was a weekend when I literally had no work to do? I can’t even remember. I think it was in February or March. My knees are knocking together with excitement, yo!

Yesterday was a pagan holiday of sorts: Lughnasadh, the autumn quarter that runs from August 1st to October 31st. Sayeth my Celtic Devotional:

“The autumn quarter of Lughnasadh brings the gift of maturity and is a time of physical harvest and spiritual garnering. It sees the greatest change in weather from broiling heat to dark and chilly nights. It is the time for celebrating the harvest and sees the busy preparations for winter. … It is a good time to celebrate the lives of all who have helped stabilize and uphold the noble values of life, of all who have exercised good judgment and steered the doubtful into the harbor of certainty, of all holy ones whose guardianship has saved us from life-disabling mistakes.”

The Devotional also includes this little poem:

The Song of Lughnasadh

I am the sovereign splendor of creation,
I am the fountain in the courts of bliss,
I am the bright surrender of the willpower,
I am the watchful guardian and the kiss.
I am the many-colored landscape,
I am the transmigration of the geese,
I am the burnished glory of the breastplate,
I am the harbor where all strivings cease.

Well, even though August is a wretched month, weather-wise, I’m not sad to see July go, since the fruits of its labor included a terrorist attack in India, a tsunami in Indonesia, and, of course, the current nightmare in Lebanon and Israel.

On a considerably shallower note, yesterday was also MTV’s 25th anniversary. Oh, remember those glory days when MTV actually played videos? When they were known for music? It was such an integral part of my ’80s experience, even though my family didn’t get cable until 1987. My grandparents had cable, and my sister and I always watched MTV when we visited them. I remember the delicious thrill of World Premiere videos, and how great it felt when one of my favorite videos aired. I remember when the Raspberry Beret video premiered; for some reason, MTV played it every hour on the hour. Maybe because it was considered a breakthrough video? My cousins were in town and we were at our grandparents’ house; one of us would turn on MTV at the start of every hour and scream, “It’s on!” so none of us would miss it. We watched that damn video every. single. hour. When my family finally possessed both a VCR and MTV, I would tape my favorite videos and re-watch them over and over. Ah, what a shame those days are long over. Do they even make music videos anymore?

I can thank MTV for inadvertently turning me into an Anglophile. In junior high I heard rumblings about a nutty British show, The Young Ones, and because the buzz was so strong, I wanted to see it. But it only aired after my bedtime and it didn’t occur to me to tape it. Finally, on Memorial Day weekend, 1988, I was able to watch it. Oh my gawd, was I hooked. Instantly. Not only on The Young Ones, but Britain in general. I began devouring every episode of The Young Ones, Monty Python, and British Comic Strip Presents (all of which ran in a block on MTV), and began checking out books about Britain from the library. The rest is history.



song heard most recently before posting: Beautifully Undone—Lindy