Do your days ever have themes? Stu and I notice from time to time that certain words pop up in our lives. Words that wouldn’t normally be part of our day, or conversation but all of a sudden there they are, underfoot. “Antietam” was a big one; it showed up first I think on BookTV but then it scurried in under the door in the weirdest damn places. Probably Sarah Vowell had something to do with it – she’s got that thing about historic places (bless her – she gets hot for Lincoln’s speeches how can you not love her?) but we’re not like you know, re-enactors. Sure Stu reads a lot of history and alternate history (he’s a judge for the major AH award) but it just would show up a little too often for comfort.

Sometimes you get days or weeks like that, don’t you? Some week where all of a sudden X shows up in every conversation – even with strangers, or in comic strips in the paper and you start looking under the dining room table for bugs. Who’s listening in? And why? Suddenly “damp mop’ or “banana pepper” or “frankincense” or “Tallahassee” shows up more than the usual once in a lifetime average. And you wonder when the shift occurred.

Today was apparently god day for me. By 2 this afternoon, I’d received one email from a charity I support which managed to my huge dismay to quote “Scripture” to me. I’d stopped giving to these folks some time back when I found them to be a Christian charity; I just am not comfortable with religious-based charities (ok, except for the Quakers who really tend not to proselytize or even mention their affiliations) (okay and the Unitarians but seriously folks). I’d had a very serious exchange with the charity’s head and while I appreciated what he said, I just wasn’t comfortable. Then some big thing happened and they were already sending help and oh, heck. So I sent them a few bucks again (they’re well rated by charitynavigator.) But dammit all, I did so not want to get “scripture” quoted to me in a report on their work. (it’s not even a word I really am super-comfortable with. I could be wrong here, but growing up, we talked about the Bible and the Old Testament, but not “scripture” which to me has a Christian overtone.

Then I got email from someone about a convention topic. Mind you, this is a very reasonable guy but his suggestion had overtones of religious content in it that made me uncomfortable. I think his idea might work, but not if it’s going to be a discussion that brings in too many specific religious ideas; we can talk about evil, we can talk about justice but we cannot, at a convention program, talk about religious atonement and forgiveness. It’s probably a good topic but right now today I’m not really comfortable using anyone’s religion as a basis for conversation; there are too many assumptions. I have no idea what some faiths think about justice, and I’m not about to go there at the convention. It’s got promise – I mean justice and revenge and reconciliation all have religious as well as non-religious roots but I’m not going there. Not now, not when there are so many people standing hip deep in gasoline with all those matches around.

So I reply in what I hope is careful terms saying – well to be honest, it’s a little late to be adding programs but I will listen because some of those I thought would be hits aren’t being hits so we might need new ideas – but also trying to be respectful and at the same time say “we can’t go HERE, but maybe we can go there”. And off I go to the post office. Where I get in line. And the lady in front of me asks if I want to go ahead of her. No. Um, why should I? I mean, yeah it’s a line, but so? She was there ahead of me. And after all, she’s a little old lady with a huge spinal curvature which bends her over (and probably causes discomfort) whereas I’m in the scooter. The she reaches into her back and holds something up and asks “would you like a New Testament?” And I say “boy, would I not.” Or something. And I start wondering if that’s her thing – that she “offers” to be helpful to someone (help that really was not needed) and then does this “scripture” thing.

Did I have a little invisible “666” or something on my forehead this morning when I got up? This was just a bit too weird for me. And it’s only 4 in the afternoon, long way to go in the day.

Antietam.