#beyond solitude

[beyondsolitude]

A path cut into a wildflower meadow beside the river. The blue sky, fair weather clouds and the luscious green. The gift of sight has never been more precious.

[beyondsolitude]

A beautiful sunny day changes utterly inside a wood. The light darkens, becomes green. It’s like being in one of those old green glass vases. A woodpecker is drumming as I stroll down the path, blackcaps, warblers and song thrush all singing lustily. Stepping out of the wood later the glare feels less forgiving. I think my forebears were forest people.

[mashithamel]

Beyond Solitude: Mia/Ford

* I relate to Ford an awful lot. I’m not good with names. I appreciate his approach to a problem (can I fix it? Does it just need money to solve? Done!) so much that it wasn’t until my third reread (this is my fourth for this, I think?) that I understood where he screwed up. Also that he is kind of on the outside of the group. He doesn’t get all the warm fuzzies, by choice, and I can respect that.

* I also appreciate, in this series that revels in the raunchy and the kinky, that we also have people who are not…that, but still have a place in the family.

* As much as I ultimately love this one, Chapter One is *soooooooo* porny. The new secretary is hot. He offers to whip it out and masturbate in front of her (granted, he’s hoping the threat will run her off). She bites a lip and thinks about it. 🙄 It gets better after that, I swear.

* “Fuck the lessons. By the time she was done tearing through Derek Ford’s life, he wouldn’t know how he’d ever made it a day without her.” Mia has a delightful spirit.

* I love he just drops off a space heater for her. Such pragmatism. He’s so cranky, but can also make such a kind gesture too.

* “Derek Ford could be as hopeless as he wanted. She’d fucking well hope enough for the both of them.” ❤️

* “That’s not the only reason we can’t do it. Look, I could explain it all to you, but it’s complicated and you really don’t give a shit about the particulars. You only care if it works, right?” I appreciate a story that is willing to just blatently wave a hand over the technical medical stuff and just say that’s the way it is, get over it.

* BTW, prior to this book Ford was in a motorcycle crash and dragged himself home over miles on a broken leg. It demonstrates that he’s stubborn and strong, but also that he’s kept himself outside the O’Kane circle for too long. Everyone is horrified that he felt he had to do it on his own, and that they didn’t know about it in time to help him.

* “her thumb didn’t meet her fingertips when she circled the shaft”: it’s remarkable how this is the case for basically every man we encounter in the sectors. Maybe it’s something in the water. Or the women have really tiny hands.

* Glass clinked as he leaned over her, his mouth close to her ear. “Do you care if people watch? Do you want them to?” “What other people?” She slid her hands up over those gorgeous arms to the broad shoulders that blocked out the rest of the world. “I only see you.” He lifted his hand to her chin and turned her head toward the couches on the platform. The O’Kanes dared to watch. A man had taken Mia’s abandoned place on the couch, one with massive shoulders and a full beard, and his fingers tangled casually in Noelle’s hair. He and Lex were taking turns toying with Noelle’s body while all three of them stared at Ford and Mia, and the illusion of invisibility vanished. “Oh,” she whispered, clutching at his shoulders. “Do you care?” His jaw clenched, a muscle ticking as he stared down at her. He took a step back—mere inches, but it felt like miles—and grabbed her hand. “Come on,” he growled. “Let’s go.” Probably my favorite passage from this book.

* “Make me feel it, she had pleaded, and he did, and she loved him a little bit for it. No wonder blowjobs made men so stupid.” Also a great line.

* “I don’t want you to give her anything.” How did I miss this on the prior three reads? She specifically tells him she doesn’t want him to pay Cerys.

* Telling a woman she’s being “silly” when she’s pissed is just a bad idea, Ford. Probably why you’re still single.

* I still totally understand his impulse to just pay the debt and have it cleared.

* “Like I was trying to help you on my first day by acting like you couldn’t walk across the room to file some papers on your own?” Yeah, yeah, driving it home successfully, Mia.

* “squeezing every possible drop of joy out of every spare moment seemed to be what the O’Kanes were all about.” This could be a tagline for the series.

Bottom line: it’s porn, but this is the Beyond series, that’s why we’re here. I love Mia and Ford.

Rating: four out of five shots of O’Kane’s best whiskey

[beyondsolitude]

Houses at Auvers - Vincent Van Gogh, 1890

Vincent had a difficult life and like the poet Edward Thomas, didn’t live to see how loved his artistic output would become. It’s a reminder that the primary audience for creative work is the artist. If you don’t love the creative process or the end product yourself, it’s just a hobby. But if you do, then, just keep going!

[beyondsolitude]

The River Usk roping through the valley as the sun goes down. Just five minutes from my front door, the river has a strong personality of its own. Swifts screaming overhead and the gentle shushing of water over stone. The river's mood is benign now, but after rain it becomes bellicose, swollen with sediment and rage.

[beyondsolitude]

The weather has been dry and sunny for days. After a long, grey and wet winter, the fields are bursting with flowers. Buttercups are everywhere. It's impossible to stay indoors and there's nothing better than walking along the Welsh lanes and paths around my town. A regular route enables me to notice all the small changes in the hedges and fields. After the daffodils we currently remain in a firmly yellow time, buttercups and dandelions.

[beyondsolitude]

Danse Russe, William Carlos Williams

I love this poem. So wild and unexpected, 'the happy genius of my household' contrasts so strongly with 'I am lonely, lonely.' I think we've all those mad moments when it feels like our hair is on fire and we dance madly round a room. When was the last time last time you did a happy jig? Mine was after the Man United v Lyon game.

[beyondsolitude]

Cicada, Seiju Omaha, 1930.