Tuesday, March 3, 2020. 10:44 PM.
“OK” -A Dialogue
August Remembering April in March
He Begins to Write to Her . . .
Imagining their dialogue
August: “I was just cooking some farina, April. And while cooking it, I got to thinking of you. And was imagining having a conversation with you . . . “
April: “And how did it go . . . this conversation?”
August: “It went just like this dialogue that I’m writing now at my desk — while eating this farina between sentences.”
April: “You know August . . . if I may take a chance and confess something honestly to you that I wouldn’t usually say, but, somehow it seems OK to say it now, if you can, maybe, take it?”
August: “OK, April. I, maybe, can take it. What would you like to confess?”
April: “It has to do with your conversation, August.”
August: “What about my conversation, April?”
April: “You’re just too easy, August.”
August: “What do you mean, April?”
April: “Well, remember when we were in the basement playing chess?”
August: “Yes, I remember playing chess in the basement.”
April: “Well, one of the unspoken reasons that I invited you to play that game was to let you know that I’m like that.”
August: “Like what, April?”
April: “I’m a game player, August. I use my wits. I’m strategic, too. I mean, I’m an intellectual in my social interactions with people.”
August: “And so, what does that mean? Do you want a friend who is also like that?”
April: “I’m not sure, but . . . “
August: “But, what, April?”
April: “Well, August, you don’t seem to be compatible with that kind of inter-personal interaction, August.”
August: “Well, I do play solitaire, April.”
April: “Oh, you do?”
August: “Yes, I play that card game several times a week . . . maybe 5 times a week.”
April: “And how does it go, August?”
August: ‘Well, sometimes I win and sometimes I don’t win. I usually look at the clock on my table just before shuffling the deck.”
April: “Why do you do that, August?”
August: “There’s something about time that interests me, I guess. I look at the clock before I wash dishes, before taking a nap, just as I begin a walk, just before turning off the light at night, just before taking a shower, too.”
April: “Why?”
August: “I guess, I just like to observe how long these things take to complete. Maybe there’s a kind of non-financial bookkeeper in me.”
April: “Do you do bookkeeping?”
August: “Well, I began some bookkeeping courses; but, didn’t complete them.”
April: “Why didn’t you complete them?”
August: “I lose interest in thinking about classifying financial transactions every day. It just isn’t meaningful enough to me to hold my interest. I do use Excel though and record my transactions there. It doesn’t require double entries; so, it’s much simpler. And there are only a few transactions to enter; for example: buying 2 gallons of spring water; or a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk; or the total of what I buy at a department store; or, occasionally, something bought online. Or, some non-financial things, like the day I open a 64-ounce jug of grape juice or begin using a roll of paper towels or a box of Cheerios.”
April: “August, you are so funny!”
August: “I know. Isn’t it funny?”
April: “I just said that, August.”
August: “Sorry about that, April.”
April: “I forgive you, August.”
August: “Thank you, April.”
April: “What does this have to do with the title of this dialogue, “OK,” August?”
August: “OK. Let me explain. I began writing this dialogue with the idea that it would be about the idiosyncrasy of saying “OK” very often in Augusts’ responses to what April says; but, somehow, it just didn’t go that way.”
April: “Well, maybe it isn’t too late to do that. Why don’t you give it a try, August?”
August: “OK.”
April: “August!”
August: “OK, here goes . . .”
April: “Here goes what August? You’re not doing it! You know, August, sometimes you remind me of Gilligan.”
August: “How do I remind you of him, April?”
April: “You can be so . . . . well, if you’ll forgive me for saying it, August, So simple.”
August: “Am I simple, April?”
April: “August, remember that time at the beach when we were laying down on the blanket and I was very upset with you – so upset that I was really verbally letting you have it?”
August: “Yes, April, I remember that. It was in August of 1974 – The Summer of ’74.”
April: “Why did you let me go on and on like that? Why didn’t you say something?”
August: “I had no verbal interaction skills. I didn’t know what to say. My teachers never taught me how to talk to someone who is angry. And I didn’t want to quarrel with you, April.”
April: “Why not?”
August: “I suppose I understood that if I did, it would have only made you angrier.”
April: “And what if I did get angrier?”
August: “Why would I want you to do that? There’s no love and kindness and loving kindness in madness. I want to be at peace with you.”
April: “Why do you want to be at peace with me, August?”
August: “It’s sweeter that way, April.”
April: “What is sweeter that way, August?”
August: “Well, conversation, for one thing.”
April: “Anything else?”
August: “Walking together.”
April: “Anything else?”
August: “Listening to music.”
April: “Anything else?”
August: “I guess, maybe, everything else is sweeter when there is peace. Even writing is sweeter when the writers are at peace.”
April: “OK, August; but, does that mean that whenever something upsets me and I try to talk with you about it, all I will get is your quietness? I want to hear from you, too. And, maybe, I need you to calm me down by showing some understanding. And, maybe, I also want to understand what you think about the matter that’s bothering me. Maybe I need and want more than a patient listener.”
August: “I will try to be more than a quiet listener, April. I need experience and practice, though, to learn how to do it well, to do it in love and kindness and in loving kindness.”
April: “OK, August.”
August: “I may need a lot of practice.”
April: “OK, August.”
August: “And now what, April?”
April: “What do you mean by ‘And now what?’ August?”
August: “Well, maybe, it’s your move, April.”
April: “We’re not playing chess, now, August.”
August: “OK, April.”
April: “Do you remember how to play chess, August?”
August: “No, April. I don’t remember.”
April: “What would you like to play, August?”
August: “Well, I like music. And I haven’t danced in decades. When I watch the music video of “My Fair Lady” starring Audrey Hepburn, and see a certain man there put his hand gently on her hip, I imagine I would just cry if I rested my hand on her hip.”
April: “Why do you imagine you would cry, August?”
August: “I imagine my heart would melt like Frosty the Snowman’s whole body if he were in the sunshine of a summer day.”
April: “And which one of those men in the video are you referring to, August?”
August: “The one who looks like Floyd, the barber, on The Andy Griffith Show.” [2:14 into the video]
“MY FAIR LADY”/”Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?” – AUDREY HEPBURN
https://www.stringdancer.com/resources/walden/
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1205550-i-only-know-myself-as-a-human-entity-the-scene
https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/henry-david-thoreau-quotes
April: “August, you have to make up your mind. Are you a lover or a philosopher? Are you August or Thoreau?”
August: “Maybe it is no longer for me to decide.”
April: “Then who is the decider?”
August: “Maybe it is for the Maker of all things to decide. There is something in His Word about “the mind of Christ.” And also something about: “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to put confidence in man.”
April: “Maybe you should see a psychiatrist.”
August: “Why? To be put on psychiatric drugs? To be dumbed down and doped up and stupefied on their drugs for the rest of my life? And to be taken advantage of by them while under the influence of their toxic medications – just so they can charge the insurance companies for office visits and so the pharmaceutical industry can make its trillions pushing drugs on people who don’t realize they’re only being used and abused — like animals on a corporation-owned farm that is devoted only to making money?”
April: “Well, what else can we do? Isn’t it written that “the whole world lies in wickedness?”
August: “We can believe the gospel and turn away from that world that doesn’t believe in God; and is, consequently, suffering from “the blind leaders of the blind leading them into the pit” because of their unbelief toward God; and their consequently inevitable belief in the ungodly world.”
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (3/9) Movie CLIP – Moon River (1961) HD
April: “It’s very curious that Audrey Hepburn, in My Fair Lady, sang about an insect in the windowsill – and then, in Breakfast At Tiffany’s, she is singing and playing a guitar on a windowsill. I find that coincidence quite amusing, August.”
August: “Yes, I noticed that, too; however, it was only after viewing that music video many times that I saw the similitude that you observed so quickly. And two words you just mentioned reminded me of a lyric in another song from long ago.”
April: “Which two words, August?”
August: “So amusing.”
April: “And what song from long ago has those two words, August.”
August: “My Way,” by Frank Sinatra.”
April: “Do you like that song, August?”
August: “I like the melody and the contemplative theme and the peaceful reflections of the lyrics. There is something very sweet and sad about that gently sung song; however, the idea of living one’s life “my way” doesn’t seem to be in agreement with what Jesus taught. And how could there be love and harmony between people if they are believers in “my way” rather than God’s Way?“
April: “I don’t know. I guess it would be a struggle to stay together in that case. August, what other songs have you listened to, today?”
August: “Today, I listened to many songs. I could list them for you, if you’re interested?”
April: “I’m interested in seeing your list, August.”
August: “OK, then: here they are, April. I hope you enjoy them. And I would be interested in any comments you’d like to share with me about them.”
This Kingdom | Hillsong (Featuring Darlene Zschech)
Raise A Hallelujah (Lyrics) ~ Bethel Music
Joan Baez. Barbara Allen with lyrics
Above All Powers With Lyrics (Lenny LeBlanc)
Still – Hillsong Worship (Lyrics)
Neil Diamond The Old Man Died
NEIL DIAMOND ~ MORNINGSIDE [HAN 1972]
Jonathan Livingston Seagull – Be
Neil Diamond – Be
Canta libre – Neil Diamond
NEIL DIAMOND ~ SKYBIRD/LONELY LOOKING SKY/THE ODYSSEY
I Will Follow Him – André Rieu
André Rieu – You´ll Never Walk Alone (Live in Maastricht 2018)
Andre Rieu The 3 Girls Singing The Rose
André Rieu – Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)
André Rieu – Don’t cry for me Argentina live at Radio City, New York
April: “About the song, “I Will Follow Him,” wasn’t that song made famous by Peggy March?”
August: “Yes, it was, April.”
April: “And the title of this letter, or blog post to me, is about August Remembering April in March – isn’t that a beautiful coincidence, August?”
August: “Yes.”
April: “Did you do that on purpose?”
August: “For a few days prior to writing this letter, I had been trying to remember that song. And I could not. And then, while writing this letter yesterday, the song came back into my memory. And I happily noticed that the singer’s last name was/is March – and that we are in the month of March, too. And, also, I recalled that many years ago, I wrote a little rhyme about March.”
April: “What rhyme did you write, August?”
“The March wind is blowing
And the buds are beginning to swell
Soon the leaves will be turning green
And on my mind is Sandra Jeanne.”
April: “And who is this Sandra Jeanne, August?”
August: “Someone who hasn’t written to me in about 37 years.”
April: “Well, maybe March isn’t her favorite month.”
August: “What is your favorite month, April?”
April: “Well, it may be no surprise to you, August, that April is my favorite month.”
August: “And why is that, April?”
April: “It is in early Spring. I like early Spring when the leaves begin turning a tender light green and the wind becomes gentle and the forsythia become yellow and the birds return from the South.”
August: “I like all those things about April, too, April. And I like this song titled April: Simon & Garfunkel – April Come She Will (Lyrics)
Peggy March – I Will Follow Him (remastered audio)
Mark's Imaginings 