Autumnal Equinox Update
September 21, 2024
With the Autumnal Equinox on September 22, we Fall into the balance of equal days and nights once again. All reports say we just lived through the hottest summer ever, and in Spain, it certainly felt that way. In Madrid, the city felt like an oven. Stone is thermal mass. It soaks up heat during the day and radiates it out at night. Most of Madrid is made of stone, so our nights were nearly as hot as our days.
Now is when the night air begins to have a crisp bite. It's a relief and a promise of pleasant days and deeper sleep.
If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, welcome to Springtime!
I did escape the heat for a week. I traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland, for the Fringe Festival. Edinburgh has quite the literary history from Bobbie Burns to philosopher David Hume to J.K. Rowling with Robert Louis Stevenson, and Arthur Conan Doyle in between. During the Fringe Festival, the city is invaded by a wild tribe of actors, musicians, dancers, comics, and street performers. Over 3,000 events are offered during the month of August. Tourists mob the streets. The sheer number and variety of offerings, all over the city, are overwhelming. A clever app helps you sort times and places, keeps track of the tickets you've bought, and provides maps to locations. It can also tell you what's playing near you at any moment, just shake your phone and the events come up. The only problem was that, at times, so many people were using it that the app crashed.
It's crazy fun and a bit of a frenzy. The events are not curated, so quality is uneven. I saw some excellent music: Django jazz in a cellar bar, soulful songs of Ella, Eartha, and Etta by a wonderful Australian singer, and an exhilarating concert of Kora music by African artists. I saw one-woman shows and enjoyed a distillery tour. I went on a literary pub crawl and an official tour of the Royal Mile with a guide from the historical society. My favorite events were a Disco Tour where we danced along to music coming through headphones with a guide who led us through the city streets and Afrique en Cirque, a circus from Guinea where amazing acrobatics mixed with music, dance, juggling, and joy. Loved it!
Midweek I took a day tour to see Rosslyn Chapel (featured in "The DaVinci Code"). It's a small space jammed with intricate stone carvings. We also visited crumbling Melrose Abbey, where the heart of Robert The Bruce is buried, and gazed at the favorite vista of Sir Walter Scott. We ended up at a gigantic statue of William Wallace (Mel Gibson's character in "Braveheart") staring fiercely at the English border. I learned an interesting fact on this tour. Scotland is entirely energy self-sufficient from renewable wind energy. It even sells energy to England. It's a small country with a lot of wind.
When I travel solo, I like to stay in the home of a local person. Airbnb offers that opportunity. I booked the guest room of a woman's home in Leith, a community north of Edinburgh's center. I took the bus into the fray of the Fringe each day. Returning to a serene suburb at the end of an intense day was a blessing. My hostess was a delight. Her house was a welcoming nest of soothing colors. She offered me dinner on the night I arrived. We shared gin & tonics while we watched Olympic events in the evening. When I got drenched in Scottish rain, she provided a hot toddy and a hot water bottle. I felt like a cherished guest.
My last day in Edinburgh was the first day of the Edinburgh International Book Festival. As an author, I couldn't resist. I went to the opening event where various Scottish authors presented brief visions of the future that ranged from provocative to thoughtful to poetic. I caught a panel discussion called "Demimonde" where authors Jane Flett and Grant Morrison discussed their surreal, transgressive novels about dystopian Scotland. Edinburgh was the first UNESCO City of Literature. I hope to return.
When I returned to Madrid, I was saddened by the news that the actress Gena Rowlands had died. I'd worked with her as an Assistant Director and remember her fondly. The project was a TV movie called "Thursday's Child," a tearjerker about a teenage boy with a life-threatening heart condition and his mother trying to get him a heart transplant. The boy was played by an inexperienced newcomer named Rob Lowe. The mother was portrayed by the accomplished, twice Academy-Award-nominated Rowlands. Playing scenes with someone of Gena's exalted reputation could have been intimidating for a fledgling like Rob, but she was so warm and generous with everyone in the cast that their performances improved whenever they were in a scene with her.
She was the consummate professional. I was particularly impressed by her off-camera performances. As a director "covers" a scene, he or she will usually get a master shot with all the actors in it, then get close-ups or over-shoulders on single actors for the most emotional moments. For example, in a scene with Rob Lowe and Gena Rowlands, a director would get a master shot with both actors on camera, then a close-up of each actor. In Rob Lowe's close-up, Gena Rowlands would not be in the shot. She'd be "off camera" standing beside the lens saying her lines to Rob Lowe. He could see her and react to her without her being seen. The quality of her performance would affect the quality of his performance because he is reacting to her.
Sometimes less-experienced actors don't understand this and just recite their lines since they are not being photographed. Manipulative actors may ask the script supervisor to read their lines to try to sabotage another actor's performance so their close-up will be used instead. Gena gave her full performance exactly as she did when it was her close-up when she was off camera. If she cried in her close-up, she cried when she was off camera thus assuring that Rob gave his best performance. She exemplified generosity and professionalism.
Later in the show, when we were shooting onstage, she approached me between scenes and asked me to come to her dressing room. That made me a little nervous because I assumed she had some kind of complaint or problem. When she opened the dressing room door, she said,
"I want you to meet my husband."
The legendary actor/director John Cassavetes extended his hand to me.
"Gena is enjoying working with you."
I shook his hand.
"And I am enjoying working with her. What a pleasure to meet you."
In my imagination, he was a giant. I was surprised to be looking at him eye-to-eye. He was only slightly taller than my 5'7".
Death at 90 is no tragedy in her case. She lived a vivid, creative life. She was true to her art. She was true to herself. She loved and was loved. She received the recognition she deserved. She was kind and considerate to other people. Rest in Power, dear Gena.
Also in August, I was delighted to have articles published in Travel+Leisure and Business Insider. Here are the links:
I Moved to Spain at Age 70 Because I Couldn't Afford Retirement in US - Business Insider
Of course, in the US, autumn brings the Presidential election. Since I live in Spain, I am often asked if I can vote in US elections. I can. The voter registration from the last place an expat lived in the US remains in force. For me, that's New Mexico. It's also possible to arrange registration as an overseas voter. That's usually facilitated through political organizations like Democrats Abroad. My ballot has already arrived by email. I will fill it in and print it out along with the accompanying affidavit. I'll sign both then scan the ballot and the affidavit and return them by email as attachments. It's secure and convenient. I am still an American. I believe all Americans must exercise their sacred right to vote.
If you're interested in the spiritual lessons I learned from Indigenous teachers, check out my memoirs:
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Honey in the River: Shadow, Sex and West African Spirituality by Scarbrough, Marsha (amazon.com)
Please share this newsletter with any friends you think may be interested. Invite them to go to my website and subscribe. Marsha Scarbrough - Author - Hollywood Insider - Spiritual Seeker - Roaming Crone