Today I was going to tackle the subject of "dark" as in "black" as a metaphor that creeps around in our mental systems with sly reverals. And here it is, "doin' it", because out every window and clogging the southside screens (which is unusual) is white. If you've ever been caught on an unfamiliar road in a whiteout, you'll know that it's just as blinding as total darkness.
One terrifying instance was a little group of UU's returning from some event in Butte, returning to Helena. We were caught on a mountain road. The driver was Suzanne Dougherty who only had one eye. I was in the back righthand seat where the drop-off down the cliff was feet away. My job was to give a report, something like Mark Twain, about how far from the edge of the pavement the car was traveling. The person on the other side had the door open and was looking down, trying to keep track of the yellow center line.
When it got worse, the only man -- not necessarily the most robust of us -- carried a flashlight and walked ahead of us, using his feet to sense was was underfoot, hoping it wouldn't be slick black ice. We were all calm. We were all focused. We were all together. I guess that's my homily for the day.
This storm is as bad as forecasted and I no longer feel like a ninny for going into a food panic and filling my storage with food. I'll eat the frozen stuff first, in case the storm brings down the powerlines. The gas is working now, but not quite warm enough with wind sucking the heat out of every weak spot and window crack. I'm wearing only three shirts but one has a quilted lining and one is fleece. The bottom one is a thin turtleneck from a company called "Heattech" which claims it "makes heat." This seems to be as true as the weather forecast. It IS warm. The not-so-little kittens were watching on their elbows from next to the electric heater, so I fixed a nice box with a soft lap robe next to the heat. They wrestled in it for a while, then went back to their former curl next to it.
The most interesting metaphors and tropes are always the ones that are outside the box because they are reversible -- dark black can mean evil or it can mean sophistication or it can mean both at once like a little dress at a Manhattan cocktail party. Same with white.
A good oxymoron is black and white and red all over, like an embarrassed zebra. The people who study early languages claim that the first three colors are always black, white and red. ln fact, the Browning school colors are red and black. White is a non-color. Is there any school with white as one of their colors? Some groups consider blue and green to be the same color.
There is so much wind that some roofs are blowing clear and it is cold enough that leaks are sealed by ice. I'm grateful for this. The roads are closed, if not by authorities then by vehicles slid sideways across the lanes. I'm grateful I'm not driving in this. For the exciting story of my heroic trip delivering bronzes to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, you will need to get my book, "Bronze Inside and Out." If your library doesn't have it on the shelves, you can ask about Interlibrary Loan. Or just buy it online.
I have inches of downloaded articles to read. I'm going to stop writing and go read them. Maybe I'll come back in a while. I need more black coffee.
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