Glimpses of the Week

I.
I had wanted to compose a post about food: how meal and wine make the symposium (sumpotēs 'fellow drinker'). The weekend had been convivial meals with friends. Two colleagues taught me of the courses they teach "Food and Culture" "Food and Politics." For me though it is "Food and Wine and Thought." Or maybe just "Food and Wine and Meeting."

II.
I had wanted to write about the weakness of my house: the trouble the builders found with its foundation, its lack of durability, the poverty of its enclosure. The outside has been breaking in, only we didn't know it. While we dwelled inside, we thought the house was strong.

I wanted to write about how I realized during these builder's reports the weakness of my childhood house, how a marriage that seemed happy remained happy, until I saw its grim now, aftermath and future. The weakness of the house: the trouble with the foundation, the poverty of its enclosure, not known until I looked.

The two had everything in common, even their desire not to be metaphors.