All God's Children Got Swing

My Sunday sermon title was inspired by catching the last 30 minutes of the Marx Brothers' film, "Day At The Races" and their rousing albeit horrifically racially incorrect musical number. Picture if you will Harpo Marx leading the song "Who dat man? It's Gabriel!" Cut to the forlorn shanty where the 'colored folk' are singing "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen..." till Gabriel gets them up and inspired to singing scat that all God's children got swing and it's gonna be a better day.

It was deeply painful to watch the racial stereotypes. It kept getting worse and yet I noticed I didn't change the channel, either. After all, this was a Marx Brothers comedy which I usually enjoy; but this was hugely detrimental to stereotype that my generation worked so hard to eradicate. And yes, I can assuage some of my discomfort with idea that the film employed many folks, gave them a good film credit on their resume and Mr. Thalberg was only filming what was popular and expected (?) for movie entertainment but....??? Please tell me we have come a long way baby.

I shall just have to be content that all God's children got swing as I need all the swing I can get these days -- having just returned from yet another trip to Los Angeles to handle emptying my mother's apartment.

I now have enough material to write a family history book--and it's not pretty.
Oh well. More on that later--it's too much to share here and still too uncomfortably fresh. With the exception of having been blessed by my sainted Uncle Mike/Don; and an by an angel named Susan, the proprietor of Sweets jewelry/beads store around the corner from my mother's apartment. Such generosity of spirit in both people who may never know how much they have come to mean to me in such a short time.

Drove home last night. I was tired and punchy from the weekend. I even pulled off the freeway at one point because I was starting to fall asleep at the wheel--you know those jerky alerts that tell you that your body fell asleep even though your hands were on the wheel and your eyes on the road. I knew I would be fine and I knew that I needed to be proactive no matter how much I wanted to get home as fast as I could. I had not slept much or well in the past few days (even though I am petite, sleeping on a 'fainting couch' is not easy because you can't lie down or stretch out your legs) and the emotions and stress level was running high.

I am just a jumble of emotions. Sadness. Gratitude. Confusion. So much yet to do both in closing up my mom's apartment by next weekend, and the clutter here at home with all the stuff I am bringing back to sort through. I cry. I nap. I am awake and restless; or in a haze. It was worth driving home last night so I could be in my bed with my sweetheart and my kitty girl and be able to sleep in this morning. What a luxury. Don and I walked to Cafe Francaise for brunch and got to meet an eight-week old Dachsund puppy named Elvis. Oh, sweet puppy breath is so healing. On the way back, we saw the Pit Bull Rescue of San Diego was holding a car wash to raise funds, so Don and I walked back and got our cars to return. There were also some wonderful puppies and dogs there to keep us entertained while we waited. One giant hunk named Hank took a fancy to my hunk named Don. (I am going to attempt to upload the camera phone photo I took).

Don is helping me to make today about some R & R. In keeping with the swing theme, it will mean watching baseball. Before the Padres start playing we have been watching the Cubs vs. Astros on WGN. It's good to see Mark Loretta again but he needs to be playing for a team I can support. Even as a Cubbie fan, I was intrigued to hear that one could bid on an autographed urinal from the clubhouse. OK, that's where I draw the baseball line. And now the Padres are on playing in Arizona and I have to go on record with a whiney gripe that the new Diamondbacks uniforms are about the ugliest I have ever seen. The color is unappealing and the print font and style in my often less than humble opinion, looks like minor league graphics. Yech. (Lest you think I am being a baseball jingoist, I hated the orange and brown Padres uniforms of yore). I know I am partial to old-fashioned baseball uniforms and looks and I understand staying current or contemporary but how about shooting for appealing? I am not a fan of the Cardinals but I like watching games that play in St. Louis because it is so cool to see a sea of red in the stands. The team's colors are red and white--not maroon, not burgundy, not beige nor ecru. There is something so baseball and All-American about primary colors and the fans easily and proudly wearing their team's colors. I would have trouble wanting to wear burgundy or maroon attire to root, root, root for my home team. Glad to see the Cubs know how to dress.

Well, it may be time for another quick cat nap.