Happy March 15, aka the Ides of March!
One week before official spring.
Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears.
Try saying that after sucking on a helium balloon.
Cory Flowers did.
Or, how about while mocking a vinyl record at 33.333 RPM's for part of the speech, 78 RPMS for some and reciting at regular speed for others.
Frrrrrrrrriiiiieeeeeennnnnndddddddsssss, Rrohohohohohmaaaaannnns, coooooounnnnnnnnntreeeeeeeeemen.
Fredsrmsctmn.
Recited by Larri Ann Smith, who even included a scratched vinyl segment.
How about to singing it with your rock guitars?
Performed by Toby Feuling, Tom Rust, and sophomore English other countrymen.
Yup, hundreds, maybe even thousands of times, I heard that speech, written by Shakespeare and put into the mouth of Marcus Antonius to share as a funeral speech on the Ides of March 44 B.C. after the death of Roman Emperor Julius Caesar.
I also heard it and watched it performed in dozens of ways.
In some cases, students simply recited the speech from the beginning until Antony's heart was in the coffin there with Caesar and he had to pause until it came back to him.
Some did well demonstrating both recitation and memorization; some not so well.
In one class of about 25 students, the speech recitation served as the final exam. Final exams usually lasted about 90 minutes in those days.
In that class, the actual exam process lasted maybe 10 minutes. Let's just say that memorization had not been a priority for most of those students.
So, we ate donuts and visited for the rest of the hour.
Twas my last class that semester and one that had tested every ounce of my patience pretty much every day, so I brought donuts and told them how much they had tested me and how tempting it had been for me many times to take my purse, get in my car, drive away and never enter another classroom again.
Well, that never happened, and I truly meant it when I told them, "but I kinda like you."
Some people are good at doing Marc Antony, while others have other priorities.
Anyway, the funeral oration given on the day to beware---the Ides of March provided countless fun memories during my teaching career.
And, if anyone's reading who may want to share what their approach to the speech happened to be, it would be fun to hear from you.
I don't know if we're supposed to "Beware" this day any more than any of the others we've faced during the last few weeks.
As for me, I'm looking out the window at a mostly clear sky, hearing our melodious chimes at work because of a cold wind and figuring how lucky I am to live on a farm right now.
Lots of times, living on a farm involves a lot of work with animals to feed and care for and constant maintenance. I did, by the way, find one panel of my greenhouse that had blown away during the blizzard.
I found it the hard way. Twas like a land mine waiting and invisible beneath an inch or two of snow. Yup, a panel of plastic can be slicker than ice when you step on it unknowingly.
In less than an instant, I was down in the powdery snow with my camera and hoping all the parts for my body and my snow-covered camera would still work once I got up.
Thankfully, everything seems okay AND I found my panel. There's still one lurking out there, and I've warned Bill to be careful whenever he steps off from well-trodden pathways.
Anyway, farm life is busy most of the time, and the busYness picks up considerably in the spring.
So, I am more grateful than ever to know that during the upcoming restricted times, we have plenty to do to occupy our minds and lots of space to do it in.
Suddenly, all that work and those daily chores look better than ever.
As the circle tightens and the virus continues to spread, we individual citizens of each country in the world face unknown challenges.
Imagine the challenges for those most closely associated with trying to control the numbers afflicted and to treat those most afflicted.
If there was a moment of poignancy that stood out among the many I read or heard about yesterday, I would have to say that the photo below, which I saw on Twitter, took the prize.
Definitely one more validation for the well-worn saying that "a picture is worth a thousand words."
In some cases, students simply recited the speech from the beginning until Antony's heart was in the coffin there with Caesar and he had to pause until it came back to him.
Some did well demonstrating both recitation and memorization; some not so well.
In one class of about 25 students, the speech recitation served as the final exam. Final exams usually lasted about 90 minutes in those days.
In that class, the actual exam process lasted maybe 10 minutes. Let's just say that memorization had not been a priority for most of those students.
So, we ate donuts and visited for the rest of the hour.
Twas my last class that semester and one that had tested every ounce of my patience pretty much every day, so I brought donuts and told them how much they had tested me and how tempting it had been for me many times to take my purse, get in my car, drive away and never enter another classroom again.
Well, that never happened, and I truly meant it when I told them, "but I kinda like you."
Some people are good at doing Marc Antony, while others have other priorities.
Anyway, the funeral oration given on the day to beware---the Ides of March provided countless fun memories during my teaching career.
And, if anyone's reading who may want to share what their approach to the speech happened to be, it would be fun to hear from you.
I don't know if we're supposed to "Beware" this day any more than any of the others we've faced during the last few weeks.
As for me, I'm looking out the window at a mostly clear sky, hearing our melodious chimes at work because of a cold wind and figuring how lucky I am to live on a farm right now.
Lots of times, living on a farm involves a lot of work with animals to feed and care for and constant maintenance. I did, by the way, find one panel of my greenhouse that had blown away during the blizzard.
I found it the hard way. Twas like a land mine waiting and invisible beneath an inch or two of snow. Yup, a panel of plastic can be slicker than ice when you step on it unknowingly.
In less than an instant, I was down in the powdery snow with my camera and hoping all the parts for my body and my snow-covered camera would still work once I got up.
Thankfully, everything seems okay AND I found my panel. There's still one lurking out there, and I've warned Bill to be careful whenever he steps off from well-trodden pathways.
Anyway, farm life is busy most of the time, and the busYness picks up considerably in the spring.
So, I am more grateful than ever to know that during the upcoming restricted times, we have plenty to do to occupy our minds and lots of space to do it in.
Suddenly, all that work and those daily chores look better than ever.
As the circle tightens and the virus continues to spread, we individual citizens of each country in the world face unknown challenges.
Imagine the challenges for those most closely associated with trying to control the numbers afflicted and to treat those most afflicted.
If there was a moment of poignancy that stood out among the many I read or heard about yesterday, I would have to say that the photo below, which I saw on Twitter, took the prize.
Definitely one more validation for the well-worn saying that "a picture is worth a thousand words."
A photo of Chinese medical workers and law enforcement officers riding horses to a remote settlement in the Altai Mountains for coronavirus prevention and knowledge dissemination.
~~~~~~~
This morning I also read a fascinating and incredible story about how Gunnison, Colo., kept the swine flu of 1918 completely out of town.
Well worth the read.
This morning I also read a fascinating and incredible story about how Gunnison, Colo., kept the swine flu of 1918 completely out of town.
Well worth the read.
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/gunnison-colorado-the-town-that-dodged-the-1918-spanish-flu-pandemic?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Finally, I know I've used this video before, but somehow it seems appropriate for this Ides of March, 2020.
In spite of our concerns for the unknown, the world is still filled with beauty and countless uplifting moments.
May you have a few today, wherever you happen to be.
Finally, I know I've used this video before, but somehow it seems appropriate for this Ides of March, 2020.
In spite of our concerns for the unknown, the world is still filled with beauty and countless uplifting moments.
May you have a few today, wherever you happen to be.
2 comments:
Love this - er - Ms Love. Here at my little 5 acre parcel in Hill Country, Texas, I am grateful for the luxury of the peace and security around me. However, I have missed the challenges and joys of North Idaho life, but your posts keep me going when another scorpion shows up in my shower or it is a sweltering 95 degrees in April. We are putting the house up for sale next week and will become traveling nomads again. I can’t seem to kick the wanderlust I developed as a military brat and, later, wife. Hope our trails cross, sooner rather than later! Barbara Worley
I think of the Ides of March speech every year since giving it myself. I have to say, the memorization part was not my forte, but it DID create life-long memories. In our class, one if the classmates handed out plastic ears which we happily tossed at him in the first line of his oration. I think it’s only fitting that I have a chid born on this day (alas, his not is not Marc or Anthony). I don’t remember donuts; either that wasn’t my class or I’ve been graced with selective memory. 😊
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