Getting comfortable with the opposite of loss
"Thirty years of grief and longing have given her face the look of something too often folded and creased; a smile seems unfamiliar, And she tries it on now as she might some garment that she's almost certain will not suit. "They try to prepare you for loss," she said. "It never occurs to them to prepare you for the opposite." I nodded. "I know. We'll manage," I said. - The Girl With No Shadow, Joanne Harris Theobroma cacao flower From the small window at the foot of our futon I catch blurring shapes. My glasses are on the table. Once they're on my face I see the dust rise from the horse ring at the other end of the campground. Horses. Horses running without riders. Horses running free. We've been living on this small town campground, part of the fairground, for more than a year. We've seen the cycle of comings and goings of people and vehicles, events and activity; and the lock-down brought on by the pandemic has shif