Musing Interruptus is a podcast for sharing thoughts and stories and enjoying idiomatic phrases and words. You can read along; the transcription is in the description of this episode. The idiomatic expressions are in italics. Try to get the meaning from the context and then look them up to see if you were right. If you like it, share it, but more importantly, continue the conversation. The music is called Jadie Grange by Blue Dot.
Hello, Welcome. I’m Renée Valentina and this is Musing Interruptus. Today, Denial Is Not Just A River In Egypt.
I’m not very good at geography, from the types of clouds to the difference between a key and a regular island, I get pretty lost. There are some things I prefer to just enjoy. That sounds pretty patronizing, especially from the point of view of a cirrocumulus cloud.  Rivers are interesting. I was today old when a student taught me that Rio de la Plata is the widest river in the whole world. You can’t see across it. If you solely relied on your eyesight, you would think the water was the end. But it’s not. If you take a three-hour ferry from Uruguay you can reach Argentina. Teachers learn a lot in class. I’m grateful for that. I’ve learned a lot of things about different cultures, vocabulary, life stories, and cosmovisions. Not enough geography, though. This is something I’m missing out on. 
But I’m not here to discuss all of that. I’m thinking about the power of denial. There is a story about a frog and a scorpion, a fable, in which Geography is crucial. Imagine a beautiful river bank, lined with trees, rocks, grassy areas, bushes, and plants. All sorts of animals live along the bank. Some can live on land and in the water. Others can live in one or the other. There once was a scorpion, we’ll call him Scorpi, who was the creative sort. He was a writer. He had a column in Scorpion Weekly, a news magazine based in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania.  Scorpi was on vacation, searching for inspiration and an opportunity to relax. He made his way to the edge of a river and wondered what was on the other side. He was excited at the prospect of discovering new beings, the conversations he would have, and the questions he would ask about their customs and favorite activities. Scorpi was excited about all of it. His journeys were always full of new faces, laughter, and connections. If you could see into his heart, you could see how easy it was for him to fall in love and adoration. So many feelings for such a little being. He was also capable of bringing the brightest feelings out of the creatures he encountered. Smiles for all when Scorpi was around. 
On this occasion, on the river bank of the Monongahela, Scorpi was looking for a way to get across and he met a frog. She was kind-hearted and intelligent and loved meeting new critters whenever possible. She enjoyed swimming in the Monongahela and being as happy as she could be. She too relished laughing, but especially bringing explosive laughter wherever she went. In the evenings, she would hop hop hop back to her place where she would dine on flies and read her books. She loved reading because she felt she lived many lives at the same time, through the words and eyes of the protagonists of those stories. She enjoyed every day of her life, even the sad days, when there were no clouds in her sky to protect her, so she had to stay indoors instead of hopping around and swimming in the river. That was ok, she had her books and loved spending time with her friends the cricket and the raccoon.
So they met. Both were eager to get to know each other on this journey, unexpectedly having their hearts poured out through their eyes and voices. What a thing to make you my friend, whispered the frog. Oh, Scorpi said, this was meant to happen. It was determined by the sun in the sky and the moon up above since before we were born. I know that, said the frog. I know that better than I know my name.  Continue Reading

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