A look at BBC's "Day in Pictures" for today has a couple of fantastically ridiculous shots. One is of an old Irish actor, dressed to celebrate the day marking Irish writer James Joyce's Ulysses. Joyce's story takes place in Dublin on an early 1900s June 16, so the day is marked by literary lovers and locals looking for an excuse to celebrate. What better reason than one of Ireland's most famous writers and novels?
The second photo that amused me a good bit was of three Englishmen with dress from a few hundred years ago playing a game that looked a bit like croquet. Three grown men, playing croquet in an English park while dressed in costumes from the 1700s. Priceless.
There were, of course, some more sobering pictures from today as well. Displaced Somali children and reminders of dengue fever's presence in Sri Lanka leave us all with a bit more somberness. I think, though, that the juxtaposition of these things is important. The celebration and the seriousness and the emotions in between are all necessary parts of being in human society. The points of celebration help us to overcome the moments of despair, and the moments of hardship help us to appreciate the power of joy and hope even more.
Midsummer is coming up: embrace the days, have an extra drink. Read about international Midsummer celebrations. See some Shakespeare. For those of you in central PA, go to Mechanicsburg's Jubilee Day. Respect the fact that there's a recession by having some free fun and figuring out how you can help the world in the process.
15 years ago
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