Sunday, November 7, 2010

It 's Been A Dark and Stormy Night......

Hi, my darlings...........I have made yet another unsettling discovery about myself.......sob.

I am nothing but no-good Fair Weather Blogger. (As opposed, for instance, to being a Foul Weather Friend.....my pals know that I may not always be available to them when things are going well for them, but if they stumble into a pot hole or a chasm that is the time they can count on me.)

It seems that I cannot write.....period.....without my sense of humor and, horror of horrors, I seem to have misplaced or lost that most precious item somewhere in the last several months.  I have been blaming my resistance to writing on a strange melancholy or some kind of depressed state, but I realized today that the problem is neither of those things.  It is simply my skewed view of things that I have lost.

All my life I have been able to see something to giggle about in even the worst situations or at least been able to invent something.    For instance, at my cousin Lew's funeral several years ago a bizarre situation arose.  My beloved cousin, Rabbi Avi Bruce would not or could not relinquish his belief that it is the duty of the family to fill the grave.......totally.  (this may be an acceptable practice while there are a gaggle of strong armed young relations still around, but at this point we have lost all such.)  When the prime Mourners, Lew's children and their families, departed after the ceremony along with the non-relatives, that left only a few of us in our 60's thru 70's with the task.  Rabbi Avi (nephew) and niece Debra both with bad backs), her hubby, Steve (always willing even if not totally physically  able) and  cousin Lois (near 80 and losing muscle mightily with each passing second) to do the shoveling......does anyone know how many shovels of earth it takes to fill a grave hole????? ..  at least a gazillion, I can tell you.

I pooped out less than half way but those other stalwart, loyal, awesome if bedraggled members of my family finished the whole job while the grave diggers, whose job it really is, loitered around and shuffled their feet in amazement, probably laughing inside and wondering what could be possessing these insane non-union shovellers.   As I stood gasping and trying to keep from falling down in exhaustion I must admit that I had to swallow a giggle at the strange spectacle.   It was an Edward Gorey moment to perfection.  Well, folks, if it were happening today I could never have managed to find that giggle.

(To extend the family weirdness even further, I have to confess that I picked  and hid in my pocket a foot sized rock  which now resides on my kitchen windowsill with the label "Blumenthal Rock"...........I now feel that my entire family is always with me whenever I chop veggies or do the dishes.)

I must also confess that, now all of a sudden,  nothing seems funny anymore and my imagination has failed me  at digging out (you should excuse the expression)  laughable stuff). 

So there is my weakness and my dilemma exposed.  If I can't find the funny bits I can't write,  hence my absence from Blogland.  Hopefully, all is not lost.......I am feeding the plant like crazy by indulging in chocolate at  every provocation and I think I feel the stirrings of some new roots of funny-bone developing.  Let us all pray (and while you are at it, please pray that my chocolate cure does not result in another 5 lbs.......

16 comments:

  1. I'll wait too. Sorry to hear you are in the doldrums.

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  2. Oh Lois. The melancholy is the worst, worst, worst, worst.
    Sometimes I find that if I just start writing, the humor in me comes out. It may be a black humor, but better that than none.
    And you don't have to be funny for us. We can handle despair, even if we wish you did not have it.

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  3. 5 pounds?! Who cares?! I recommend more chocolate. Clearly, you have not ingested the proper amount. Continue until satisfied. In the meantime, please continue to post regardless of humor. You're a treasure.

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  4. I'm sorry you've dislocated your funnybone! I'd like to hear from you anyway, if you could manage to write with a little different style. And as Ms. Moon says, you might discover a deep hidden bit of humor in the process of writing. In any case, keep eating chocolate!

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  5. The darker the chocolate, the better it works as a funny bone regrower.

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  6. Hi Lo! Perhaps just an occasional "I am not dead yet" message will suffice. I think that funny bone is just under the surface..I could kinda see it poking through in this post. Perhaps you are trying to damn hard..or you just want more chocolate:)

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  7. Your sense of humor shows through even when you're complaining. So complain all you want. We love you!

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  8. Ha. I write best when I'm in the hole. People come to my blog for the trainwrecks. They're never as amused when I'm happy.

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  9. I like the thought of a chocolate cure...that will do doctors out of a job!!!

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  10. You are definitely worth the wait. Great post and try to keep positive. :-)

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  11. Been there done that. Nothing left of my family either except a stubborn pile of ashes that remain on a wild hill side. Your post made me really laugh because I know when you emerge things really will be funny and I look forward to it. Try dark chocolate laced with orange bits. Always works for me.

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  12. RX: Find CD's or DVD's of people, movies, or what-have-you that you KNOW have made you laugh in the past, and overdose on 'em. Get those laugh muscles working. The Three Stooges, the Smothers Brothers, Bob Newhart, Sam Kiniston, George Burns and Gracie Allan, Dick Van Dyke, Monty Python, Are You Being Served?, Jeeves and Wooster, Eddie Izzard, Green Acres----there must be something!!

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  13. I found you from a comment you left at the mouse's hole and have enjoyed reading your blog. You are actually older than me! We are elderly powerhouses filled with chocolate - which I hear prevents cancer. I know sometimes it's hard to find something to blog about. I just leave it up to my dog, Daisy.
    hugs from Barbara

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  14. Stick with the chocolate cure. Hope you don't run out before it works its wonders!

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  15. I would think everyone deserves a good bluesy moment now and then - it makes the sunny days all the brighter.

    I'd prefer not to see "I'm not dead yet" entries... how about "still pluggin' along" ones instead? :)

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