Sync Your Calendars

“And on Wednesday evening I am supposed to attend a viewing of the Work in Progress of the Opera about Tristan and Isolde” Little Plump Jo told her five canine writing companions, the overexcitable Dabrowski Dogs.

“ You should attend that!” barked Intellectual Dabrowski. “It is good manners to encourage your fellow creatives. You might actually learn something about serious scholarly research and high quality academic compositions; an area in which you are clearly lacking! And Malory Tennyson will be expecting you to write the Tale of Sir Tristram of Lyoness during your time in Cloudbank Cabin.”

“I don’t want to write about Tristram or Tristan and Isolde” complained Jo.

Psycho Motor Dabrowski, who had been spending a great deal of time with Dagonet the Jester, and now rather fancied himself as an impersonator, bounced to the centre of the room. With the back of his paw pressed dramatically against his forehead, he crooned:

“Tristan – Isolde, Triiiistan- Isoooolde A, F, E, F B, D♯, G♯,A,E, G♯,D, A♯,B”

“Don’t mock! Tristan and Isolde is a grand, tragic, love story!” scolded Emotional Dabrowski. “You are such a bogan, Psycho!”

Now adopting the powerful stance, intense dark-eyed stare and deep, accented voice of Sir Lancelot du Lac, Psycho Motor asked:

“What is this bogan of which you speak?”

And accurately mimicking Little Plump Jo’s soft voice:

“A bogan is a term in Australian slang for an uncultured person – sort of like a philistine.”

Back to the Sir Lancelot stance and voice:

“Ah yes, I know of this Philistine. He was slain by the shepherd boy, David.

But what is Australian?”

And Psycho Motor Dabrowski rolled around on the floor, laughing hysterically.

“ But I really didn’t want to go out on Wednesday evening! It means I will be out almost every evening and then when I get back I do not feel like sitting down to do my own writing.”

“And Malory Tennyson always says I should be writing more, producing more, to justify my position as an Artisan in Residence here in his Cloudbank Cabin for Arthurian Studies. But then he heaps all these extra expectations on me. He said he has updated his calendar recently; and he wants me to meet with him, bringing my calendar, so that he can fill in all the activities he expects me to attend.”

“You need to take your calendar already filled in with all your regular activities in the Village and in the Cabin,” barked Sensual Dabrowski. “And make sure that you allocate several substantial blocks of time labelled Writing-DND (Do Not Disturb). We can maybe anticipate some of the timeslots he will demand and be prepared to be otherwise engaged if necessary.”

Little Plump Jo opened her calendar to the current month.

“Cross out all the Sundays!” yelped Psycho Motor Dabrowski. “That is your day of rest when you can go to the Tea Lounge for lunch after church and take us for walks.”

“Yes,” said Jo “except once every six weeks or so when there is the opening of a new exhibition or a musical recital in the Art Gallery.”

“ On Mondays I volunteer in the Village Art Gallery from 11.00 am to 3.00pm. Then there is a Prayer Group between 3.30 and 4.30. Then home for tea and a friend rings me regularly at 7.30 pm usually till 8.30 pm but sometimes 9.00pm.”

“On Tuesdays I volunteer in the Village Art Gallery from 11.00 am to 3.00pm. I often hold mentoring sessions or gallery time for home-schooling families then too. Almost every Tuesday of the month there is a meeting in the evening either in person or on Zoom 7.30- 9.00 pm The meeting on the fourth Tuesday of the month is the Artist Gathering. I would not want to miss that one.”

“Then Wednesday – I used to have Wednesday set aside for writing; but now there is a meeting of the Faith And The Arts Organizing Team planning next year’s Summer School usually between 2.00-4.00pm. Before that there is Community luncheon. I do not often go to that. On the first Wednesday there is Praying Grandparents from 10-11.30 am. On the second Wednesday of the month there is Community Bring and Share Tea in the park in summer and in homes in winter. And on the first Wednesday during winter there is a Winter Writers’ Fireside Gathering in a home - I would not want to miss that one.”

“Thursdays are usually free for writing apart from Morning Tea time and except when there is a Prayer Room Team meeting.”

“On Fridays I work in the Village Library during the day. The evening is usually free and I try to catch up with friends and make phonecalls.”

“Saturdays. The second Saturday of the month is a Village Working Bee from 10.00 am till noon. In theory Saturday afternoon is usually free except if the Tea Rooms and Art Gallery are really busy. And one Saturday evening a month we have a community activity such as a Bush Dance or a Board Games evening.

“So when do you shop, prepare meals, clean your house, do your laundry etc.?” asked Sensual Dabrowski.

“I just fit it all in as I can” said Jo “As you can see it often gets neglected.”

“OK, photocopy Malory’s previous calendar onto a transparency” said Intellectual Dabrowski, “and we can overlay it on your calendar.”

“Wow, look at that! Almost all the squares are blocked solid now – not many clear spaces left!” barked Intellectual. “According to Malory’s old calendar you should have been completing four hours per day of actual writing, plus attending evening lecture sessions. I suppose Malory Tennyson does not understand having other responsibilities and obligations. He wrote Le Morte d’Arthur under his pen name of Sir Thomas Malory in a prison cell.”

“But we must remember that this a Pre-Glitch calendar; so Malory’s revised calendar may be very different.”

“Malory said I caused the Glitch in the Fog lake and Cloudbank. But I cannot see how I could have done that” said Jo.

“I don’t think Malory, or anyone else, really knows how it happened” said Intellectual. “He is also blaming Sir Lancelot du Lac, because he went off script during a Fog Lake re-enactment of the Trial by Combat with Sir Mador de la Porte. But whether Sir Lancelot caused The Glitch or was a victim of it, he nearly killed himself in the process, and the atmosphere, climate, landscape and timings in the Fog Lake have not been the same since. Chapters are happening out of time. The Court A-Maying day was washed out. Sir Urre arrived from Hungary, several chapters early, for his public prayer for healing session and Lancelot was not there to lay hands on him.”

“That is why Malory is staging the Tristram and Isolde chapters now. F, B, D♯, G♯”

“I would like to suggest that you block out several times already, labelled ROC,” suggested Imaginational Dabrowski. “If Malory asks what it is, tell him it means Researching Old Camelot. But we will all know it means Return to Old Camelot. That is time for us to spend with Sir Lancelot, while he is recovering hidden in the quiet East wing of Camelot Castle. He wants to change the direction of his life and return to the ideals of King Arthur when The Round Table was founded.

He does not want to re-enact the final chapters of Le Morte d’Arthur as Malory told it. As he cannot change Mordred’s story, he wants to ensure he will not be banished. He wants to go to his castle of Joyous Garde and be close enough to fight beside Arthur against Mordred and the Saxons. He thinks that you can do that for him because you set Elaine free to live her own story.”

“Elaine did that for herself by declaring that she was no longer The Lily Maid of Astolat and now wished to be known as The Lady Charlotte-Elaine, the Lady of Shalott and entrepreneur owner of Charlotte’s Web Weaving. I have just been following her and writing her new story as she lives it” said Jo.

“Yes, that is exactly what Sir Lancelot wants you to do for him. He faces months of rehab to recover from the fractured femur and he wants you to come and just spend time with him and record it. It can be a trial run for rewriting his whole story.”

“Does he want a wounded veteran rehab romance type novel?”

“No, I think he is being careful to avoid any romantic entanglements at the moment. Fortunately Queen Guinevere thinks he is still missing and has gone to spend time with her family in Cameliard. But we must not let Malory Tennyson know; because Sir Lancelot may not want to return to the Fog Lake. Hence the code ROC for those blocks of time” said Imaginational. “It will be really interesting to see what Malory’s new calendar proposals are. I imagine there will be a lot of TBAs (To Be Advised) and TBCs (To Be Confirmed) on it”

“Speaking of following Elaine’s story, I have a few more calendar entries for Elaine, which are also probably DTM (Don’t Tell Malory). She has the opening of her Canine Capers Catwalk Collection of dog coats for the dogs of the court. That is on the third Saturday of the month. She has a date with Lord Bromwell, the following week and Sir Gawain is showing interest in her, although he is already married to Lady Ragnell.”

“Hey!” yelped Imaginational Dabrowski. ”Do you think it is possible that Elaine the Fair, Elaine the Lovely, the Lily Maid of Astolat, actually started the cracks which resulted in The Glitch? Her actions cracked her mirror from side to side.

Maybe SHE cracked the Fog Lake!”