Be to her, Persephone,
All the things I might not be;
Take her head upon your knee.
She that was so proud and wild,
Flippant, arrogant and free,
She that had no need of me,
Is a little lonely child
Lost in Hell, -- Persephone,
Take her head upon your knee;
Say to her, "My dear, my dear,
It is not so dreadful here." - Edna St Vincent Millay

Saturday, 19 January 2013

Helmet-heads

It's been snowing again -- 15 centimetres covering the filthy grey ice that has dominated the streets for the past week or so. This afternoon I looked out of the window as the dark began to draw in and saw a fellow leaping like a gazelle through the snowdrifts clad in his Ottawa Senators jersey.

Oh, that's right, I thought glumly. It's back.

After a stand-off of several months, hockey is back on the TV. As I walked the Accent Snob in the early evening, I could see the glow of television screens from apartments, houses and condos up and down our block. (We must be the only house in Hades without a wide-screen.) It was a line of beacons, welcoming back the violence-prone and ridiculously over-paid men on skates. Even more appalling then the idea of hockey-players going on strike is the fact that they've done this before, and no doubt will do it again, as this skit spoofing the Canadian Heritage Moment television spots attests:

Who Wants to Know?

I live in the capital city of Canada....and I'd rather not! I'm like Persephone, doomed to spend 10 months of the year in Hades and two months in my hometown. Except that Persephone got to go home for six months out of the year.