I saw a young couple with a child of around two, and the
child had a toffee lollipop which he dropped. Father hurriedly picked it up and
took it to his wife, asking whether she had something to clean it with or
whether there was a water supply nearby. Mother took it from him, sucked it,
and handed it back to the child. Job done; it’s how the job has always been
done.
We live in a culture that wants to sanitise the child’s
environment to the point of near-strangulation. The corporate world encourages
the process because it wants us to buy more and more products so it can make
bigger and bigger profits. ‘Antibacterial’ is its favourite catchword, when all
it takes is a mother’s saliva. I like that; there’s something natural,
primitive and proper about it. I do.
But I wonder whether I’m right in thinking that it must be
the mother’s saliva – that father’s spit is simply not fit for purpose. Or
could it be that fathers are cowardly creatures who fear they might catch
something nasty if they suck a fallen lollipop? Or is the relationship between
father and child less corporeally intimate than that between mother and child? I
suspect they might all be true.
7 comments:
Interesting Jeff, as always. No matter how hard you try to stay away, it will pull you back. "It" being not really the blog but the idea – and discussion, conversation – whether with ourselves or others, it's what keeps people going. You always offer an interesting perspective, it's never just rambling even when it is. (Not being very coherent myself, actually :)
I could certainly ramble about why the blog is important to me, Della. Ramble, ramble, ramble...
I won't, even when I do.
One problem, though, was that it was encouraging me to become an opinionated windbag. That and other things have caused me to review my relationship with the dear old thing. I expect I'll still follow my urges, come what may. It's what I've always done.
I hope Berlin isn't being affected by the floods. From what I've seen, the problem seems to be further south.
There are definitely blogs out there full of opinionated windbags, but yours isn't one. Sure, occasionally you come out with a strong opinion, but many times you just elaborate on an idea or two and raise questions, so the posts are provoking and not proposing to be the final word on an issue. I usually follow this kind of blogger, but some of the writing blogs where I'm trying to find information, are just too much. The "10 things you must do to get your book published" is a list reborn every day for example, by everyone capable of an opinion. Out of 30 posts, I'll find maybe 1 or 2 from which I can extract useful information (that I often knew in the first place anyway). I really have to cool it with that.
Have Feedly now for my blog reading because Google Reader will end in July. It looks much better but don't fully know how it works yet :)
Berlin has been sunny and warm and very green now in our neighborhood. Amazingly, we haven't even had rain for a week.
I don't envy you trying to get a novel published these days, Della, not since the free market mentality became king of the publishing world. Remember what an editor said to me back at the end of the 80s?
'We're not publishers any more. We're just booksellers now.'
I trotted over to say "hi" & that I'm thinking about you, hoping you're well. I enjoyed reading your thoughts here ... and I imagine that were you a 'papa' to a little one, your spit would have cleaned the lollipop perfectly & there'd be "something natural, primitive and proper about it", to be sure. (I love that line.)
Well, when I was a papa to a little one, I did the conventional thing and left the lollipop licking to the female of the species (for all the reasons I mentioned in the post.) Sorry to disappoint...
It's splendid to hear from you, Shay. I hope California is having better weather than we are (cold gales in June - not right.) And I hope you're still writing haikus, since you're so good at it. That one that ended 'seamless, like lovers' remains one of my favourite pieces of writing.
Ah well ... life is all about living & learning, eh?
The weather here is rainy today, countering the usual sunshine, & I love the rain, the way it makes you want to nest in, burn candles & listen to the soothing music of it ... It pleases me that the haiku of mine still charms you so ~ you're a dearheart, Jeff, Thank You~
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