empty nest and charles williams

I had a phone message recently inviting Eileen and me to consider become host parents for foreign exchange students. The reason the caller gave for contact us was that we were “empty nesters.”

I don’t think that hosting students is something that Eileen and I want to do. I, for one, value my privacy and my time spent at home reading, studying, practicing and being with Eileen.

I began to think a little bit more about the term, “empty nesters.”

Eileen and I love being parents. And I especially love having adult children which adds significantly to the number of people I can actually converse with at this time in my life.

And then it hit me.

Hey. Our nest is not empty. We’re in it.

And it’s a good time of life for me. Probably as good as any time I’ve had so far.

Number one. I’m still alive and have more time of life left. And I get to live with Eileen. And do music.

Maybe this is narcissistic.

But I guess I have many flaws and that could be one of them.

Narcissus gets a bad rap anyway. In the original legend, he doesn’t know he’s falling in love with himself, just a beautiful youth that is actually his reflection. Heh. Jes sayin.

I finished reading War in Heaven by Charles Williams. Williams wrote in the 30s. This was his first novel. I ran across his name when I was on vacation and downloaded several ebooks. I was hoping for charm, but think the writing and plot were pretty lame.

Although it starts out like a murder mystery, it descends into a goofy story of the Holy Grail. The hero is a bumbling Archdeacon whose bland holiness is reminiscent of Father Brown.

In the hands of the bad (evil) guys the Grail somehow is a locus of power. At least that’s how they see it. Some of them want to destroy it. The plot is a struggle for possession of it and ends in a blaze of goofy religious shit.