The Church Lady

It's Sunday and I just woke-up. I woke at the crack of dawn, but figured with the time change I had extra time to snooze so I did. As if when and how long I snooze matters when I have *nothing* to hang my time to now that I'm unemployed. It's an absolutely georgeous day outside. I knew it would be last night as I sat out back and gazed at the abundance of stars in the sky.

I think I'm not as good at being self-differentiated as I'd thought I was becoming. I've just been noticing lately that some of the things I say are not what I want to have come out of me. For example - I had a great opportunity for restoring a non-relationship and what I said was..."all I ask that you do is...blah, blah, blah." As if I have a right to ask anything of anybody and especially *this* person!

I remember a lady from my childhood who used to drive me bananas. She was so bossy, controlling and pushy about what she thought was the right way for our family to do things. She saw my blind, widowed mother as someone incapable of running her own life or raising us kids well. I couldn't stand this woman! My mom got frustrated with her too, but kept telling me I should be more patient because "she means well" - my mom was a saint. Anyway - I'm seeing some of Mrs. R. in myself today and I don't like it. Not one bit. To think that I have "church lady" characteristics just makes my stomach turn.

What does the phrase uva uvam vivendo varia fit mean?

The Latin phrase that appears on the Hat Creek Cattle Company sign in "Lonesome Dove" is a garbled corruption, and there's no direct translation. It derives from the scholia to Juvenal 2.81 which cites the proverb "uva uvam videndo varia fit" This means something like "a grape changes color [i.e., ripens] when it sees [another] grape"
Novelist Larry McMurtry probably intentionally misused the Latin, perhaps to make a point about Augustus McCrae's tenuous understanding of the language.
From there, any number of interpretations have arisen to explain why McMurtry chose to communicate that particular idea. Probably the soundest theory is that the phrase serves as a metaphor for the group's journey, as many of the story's characters go through a process of personal maturation and development. Much like grapes ripen in the presence of others.

from: the Southwest Collections at Southwest Texas State University. [see link]http://www.library.txstate.edu/swwc/ld/ldex081a1.html

Hmm, well the story tells us that Gus chose it because he liked the way it looked and it 'fit' the space he had on his sign. He doesn't know the translation, but apparently McMurtry did when he used it. It seems quite apropos to the story and to life in general, eh? Don't we all "ripen" in the presence of others. Quite a statement in support of being in community. Of course we sometimes "sour" in the presence of others as well. .sigh.