Dark Sentiments – Day 1
Posted By Randy on October 1, 2010
Throughout human history and up to an amazingly short time ago, people lived in more intimate contact with Nature. The reality of what constituted a “work week” was driven by whether or not the sun was up, the current weather trends, the time of the month, and the season of the year. Self-sufficiency of the individual, of families, and of communities was essential to survival, as was the ability to outlast hardship in the hope that better times were coming, always with the certainty that all things must come to an end.
A reminder of infant mortality.
People knew that for one thing to live, something else must die; and everything dies. They lived closer to death and knew it more intimately. Children were present when livestock were slaughtered and butchered and none of them needed therapy for post traumatic stress disorder because of it. Families packed a picnic lunch and brought it with them to eat at a hanging. At funerals, the corpses of loved ones were routinely laid out for viewing in the family home rather than the staid atmosphere of a funeral parlour. At a wake the deceased was the life of the party. The dead were photographed and their portraits framed for display.
Growing up in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia one marinates in the bittersweet legacy of the triumphs and tragedies that characterize the life of a mariner and all who know him. Drive its streets and look at the old architecture. Think on the grim reality that was the life of a fisherman’s wife and why so many houses sport the vantage point that projects from the roof line so as to afford an expansive view of the harbour and therefore of any ship returning to it. The quaint local term for this structure is the “Lunenburg bump”. The other name for it is “widow’s walk”.
Let this be your introduction to my 31 days of Dark Sentiments. Each day in this month of October I will be posting articles and items, music and movie reviews, film clips and book recommendations, memories and artifacts, all connecting straight back to the dark side. Some will make you laugh, some will trouble your dreams, and some will prevent sleep.
Stay tuned and enjoy the ride.
[…] to pay the 200% Not Paying Attention Tax, I invite you to read my first post in the series; Dark Sentiments – Day 1. Share and […]
[…] significance to Mrs. LFM and me, and Hallowe’en marks the anniversary of our marriage. Last October we launched what will be an annual event here at LFM – 31 days of Dark Sentiments – one each for every day in this most meaningful of […]
[…] retrospective from the past two seasons. The intro to the inaugural season of Dark Sentiments is here. From there you can either navigate through the remaining 30 days, or scroll through them from […]