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| Rosemary 1969 with Bougainvillea glabra - 27 July 2026 |
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| Dalvador Dali - The Persistence of Memory |
This lovely
bougaunvillea started to bloom yesterday on my bedroom table by the
window. It was Rosemary’s favourite. Somehow it has survived in the warmth of
my bedroom. It is impossible for me to look at it every day when I am in or on
my bed without thinking of Rosemary that was. And yet her plant persists to
remind me of my loss after a 52 year marriage.
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| Rosemary in Buenos Aires 23 March 2027 |
At my age of almost 84 I sometimes think that my
forgetting names or getting into my car and not knowing where I am going are
signs of impending dementia. But my persistent memory plays some strange
tricks. I can see the photograph of an actor or actress from that other century
and the name comes instantly into my grasp. Possibly because of my dyslexia I
had to look up the spelling of bougainvillea
Many of these memories are what Julian Barnes in his
2026 January book Departure(s) [does not explain why he has that s in brackets]
Involuntary Autobiographical Memory or IAM. I wrote about the book here: Julian Barnes - Death and the Lemon Table
I love that variation of the word to remember in Spanish that Jorge Luís Borges often used in his poems and essays - rememorar. It sort of means, in a lovely poetic sound - to remember again.