Martha

As most of you know, FF has put a new "Passages" on Dal's and it's pretty good. 23kachinas noted there was an online version, and when I read further down in the comments that Martha had run off to Hawaii, I checked out the online version.

I, like Jeremy, like the checkout cards. When I was a kid in elementary school, "Library Day" was the best day of the week, and I eventually checked out many different books, mostly about animals and ghosts. I liked seeing who else had checked out the books between my repeated checkouts of the same books and it was usually no one. I never thought it was weird I was the only one checking out that particular book, but maybe it was. I don't know. A person likes what they like, and I liked animals (even cats, back then).

Anyway, I admit I haven't read the whole book, Loom of the Desert, but I skimmed the story about Martha this morning. Martha ran off to Hawaii. How amazing! And coincidental. Maybe my Hawaii theory is right, or maybe it's just a coincidence. But it's got me a' thinkin'.

One passage in particular I found moving:

Fires have burned as fiercely within that woman's breast as ever burned the fires of Kilauea; and when they were ready to burst their bounds, she fled in her impulse to the coral isles of the peaceful Western sea, and there her ears heard the sound, and her heart learned the meaning of words that have left no visible sign upon her--the wondrous, sweet words of a dream, whispered to her unceasingly, while she gave herself up to an enchantment as mad and bewildering as that of the rhythmic hula-hula.
If she sinned, she does not seem to know it. Going about at her work, as before, the expressionless face is a mask; yet it may be she is moving in a dream-world, wherein she lives over once again the months that were hers--once--in the far Hawaiian Isles.

I think that's a wonderful passage. Some might not agree with Martha for leaving her husband, a good man, a hard worker, yet had never given her what she longed for--romance. Martha, after having experienced the beauty and riches of the Isles, eventually returned to her old life--her "home,"--but with the romance of Hawaii in her heart and living again in her dreams. Even the memories and imaginative dreams of Paradise can brighten an otherwise dusty existence. So, we can't blame Martha. I wonder what FF thinks about Martha, and her inability to "stick a thing out?" I can't imagine he blames her, and he must relate in some way--maybe in the theme of imagination being more fun and important than knowledge.

Because Martha came back, left Hawaii and its romance, and in the end, chose her imagination and "home" over the physical knowledge.

Anyway, I can see how it could be a fun rabbit hole to explore. I also think the photos and captions FF chose for his review tell a story all by themselves..."Where the burros browsed..."

Which is probably what Judy Garland was getting at when she said:

I think it all comes down to balance. Work hard, but don't starve your imagination or stifle your dreams. They're all good for the soul. Like unicorns.