# Unlocking The Air - Author: Ursula Le Guin - Genre: #### Kindle Highlights #### Notes Half Past Four is a story that uses the same names of characters but in different settings. Meaning that while they share the same names, they are different people in very different situations. They are however short self contained stories about the dynamics of families. This was somewhat confusing as the names & ideas shared between them were so similar that I just assumed they were the same people interacting with each other at different times of their lives. Now that I think about it more deeply, I consider it like a rubix cube where depending on how you arrange it the names & events are similar but different. Nonetheless, an interesting read if not a confusing one. --- The Professors House is a somewhat straightforward story about a professor & his model hobby house. He crafts it completely & does so to.the finest detail. It's modeled to be Victorian inspired and despite having a daughter, his own personal project. While his own home is rather run down, the model house is rather nice and remains as such. It becomes somewhat of an obsession or escape for when he feels overwhelmed or bored with work or life. There are for a short time a small model family that reside in it that he detests. These objects are removed eventually to his comfort. However he does allow a cat to remain in it and for a while he considers adding a real animal to it but doesn't after all. It's kind of telling that he invests so much time & energy into it versus his own home that he lives in. Albeit he does eventually take time to tend to his real home and those that live within it. --- Ruby On The 67 is a somewhat slice of life short story, a few pages long. It's a simple telling of an older woman conversing with her friend on the bus, (the 67) about her sister's recent accident. Her sister, Rose(?), fell whilst trying to replace a bulb in their chandelier & while take to the hospital was released to Ruby's care. Her friend Emma listens, along with her 35 year old grandson whom is riding with her to the hospital to visit her friend. Emma gets off the bus & they part ways. Ruby gets off a few stops later and reminisces briefly of something her grandfather told her in her youth. Its a story that is a simple example of the human condition. About maybe being or getting older? --- Limberlost is a story following a middle aged woman, the novelist & details her experience at a conference at an area in the woods. She later realizes she's been there before as a child when it was a campground. Initially she is talking to the poet while he swims in a pond. The story kind of delves into her fear or anxiety of doing things. For example, she didn't know if she wanted to swim along with the poet or how when she was there as a child that she didn't go along with her friends when they snuck out to mess, make noises & such at the boys area of the camp after lights out. Funny enough, she describes the sounds that fill the usually silent campground at night which include not just the men's late night ceremony but also the flatulence from the other cabins due to the vegan chili. I feel this story seems to speak to the regret of not doing what one wants out of fear. --- The Creatures On My Mind is a story about the unnamed characters view or perspective of a beetle, sparrow & seagull. They're reminiscing about each of the creatures and how they related or how the make them feel. Its almost as if they're projecting their own feelings about them onto the various winger animals. The first is the beetle and how they came upon it whilst it was dying. How they couldn't mange the kill it themselves to end its suffering. How they brushed it aside on the second day of viewing it, to finally brushing it into the rain catch on the third day when it finally died. The second is the sparrow that was trapped in a wire messed area. How it fluttered in a panic, scared and confused, waiting to be released from its imprisonment. She was able to get the maintenance man to unlock the area and release it which the person displayed no emotion towards doing so. She wondered herself why she felt the need to want to have it released. Why that she felt the sparrow was like her heart beating in her ribcage. The final creature was that of a seagull on the beach that was injured and unable to fly. She thought of how seagulls are, their oneness with the air, beach and sea. She walked closer to it & it didn't retreat for it couldn't. She grew somewhat concerned that the bird wouldn meet its end at the jaws of a dog that were so common at the beach. Yet stared at her, thru her, possibly seeing her as one with the air, & the beach. The creature would live its life as such, completely, until it's inevitable death. --- Standing Ground is a story about 2 perspectives of abortion from 4 different people. 2 of them, Delaware & Sharee are a daughter & mother going in for an abortion. The abortion is for Sharee, Delaware's mother. This is interesting because usually you would think that it would be the child having the procedure performed, (or maybe this is a personal bias). However in this instance this is the mother having it done because she was sexually assaulted by a man she knew while they were on a date at the drive in movies. The other perspectives are that of a woman & man against abortion. They are Mary & Norman. Mary is a wife & secretary that still is religious and persists in the notion of abortion being ungodly. Norman while apparently religious as well is moreso in the belief that women should remain "in their place" & begrudgingly tolerates Mary's presence in their anti-abortion efforts. For he is older and is still attached the ways of old, long since passed but still holding on in people like him & Mary. Mary doesn't care for him either but they have a common enemy in abortion. Delaware while a teenager acts somewhat as an adult on behalf of her mother. This is due to her mother, Sharee, having had experienced brain damage as an infant. This story is interesting as it's from 1992 and sadly the message still resonates in today's world of 2024... --- Spoons In The Basement is a very short story about a house & some silver coffee spoons that are found by the owner of the home. Its a weird story that I can't tell if it's about squatters or possibly ghosts. I say as such because it mentions they've lived there for years and then one day, Georgia, the owner notices an area of the house that she hadn't known of before, a basement. There are occupants of this area of the home, Ann, and a few others. Then there is also a middle aged couple that Georgia doesn't care for due to the woman being rude towards her. It's an unusual story, to have there be a whole area of the house that they didn't know about and even an area described as a ballroom. Thus I'm unsure if it's a ghost story or story about squatters. --- Sunday In Summer In Seatown is a small musing about the beach and the humans and other life that visits it. Its almost as the beach has a life of its own, doing it's own thing as the humans do likewise. A sweet & simple 3 page story. --- In The Drought is a short story about how during a drought the water coming out of the faucets is a deep muddy red colour. Sarah calls some friends to verify if it's occurring with their water as well & it is. Belle, her partner (?), mentions wanting to go back to live in the mountains where the water is clean & fresh. --- Ether, OR is a somewhat odd story about the town, "Ether, OR" & it's residents. Each of the residents tells their stories & perspectives about the town & other inhabitants. The town appears to "move" and never be in the same place. It's old and is small yet each of the stories make it feel big. Some of the stories are of how they feel about the town. Others are about how they feel about themselves or others relation to each other. Some want to leave but don't know how. Others stay, not necessarily because they want to but because they feel they can't. Its not as if the town keeps them there as much as the people themselves hold themselves captive there. I found the story to be somewhat magically haunting. A small town, will small lives, remaining yet unsure why. Those that do know why they choose to remain know nothing else & don't seem to wish to know anything else. For Ether, OR is their home. Sidenote: I'd recently watched something about the tectonic plates of the PNW & how the coast is moving a few millimeters a year inland. That eventually an earthquake will cause it to errupt back out towards the coast. For some reason the story makes me think of that due to how the town appears to move and never be in the same place, even when you come back. --- Unlocking The Air > There could only be such jubilation only at the death of a tyrant or the failure of a great hope. (pg. 130) > What's social justice to a color TV set? (pg. 135) This is a story that jumps between events in the story and events from the past or even events of fables. The premise of the story, I think, is about revolution. Initially it describes war and possible outbreaks of revolution. It uses the stones of the ground to describe the events that they, (the stones) have witnessed. There appears to be a gathering or possibly protest that occurs every Thursday either for remembrance or for current issues. It follows the viewpoints of a mother & daughter going to the gathering. It also gives the perspective of a man & his cohorts working in a lab. It also describes how one of the character brothers is killed my military forces unjustly. It's an unusual story that I'd need to read in whole at one time to really gather what's being expressed. For I feel I am missing some elements. --- A Child Bride is a short story that seems to be about a young girl experiencing abuse(?). The prose it is written in is somewhat poetic & sad. I can't tell if the girl was kidnapped or given to this person. The mother appears to be distracted yet in the way it's written I am unsure. I can only say it is a unhappy story, such a deep sadness is felt despite the pretty words. It reads like a horror story in some ways. How I am unsure but that's what it makes me feel. --- Climbing To The Moon is a sweet short story of what I think are nomadic peoples living close to the sea. The day is ending and they're gathering wood for the fire, a mother and her son. He is young and eager to help her. Later her partner arrives bareback on a horse. They shall a moment whilst the stars enter the sky. She walks towards the sea to see how the fire appears and returns to her people now sitting around the fire. As she, her mother and grandmother (?) or elder women sit they recall times past when she was younger. She keeps the fire going for most of the night and then extinguishes the fire to then walk along the dunes before the moon rises. --- Daddy's Big Girl is a somewhat more science fiction type story. Its about a young girl, Jewel Ann, that has a condition where she continues to grow at an incredible rate compared to everyone else. The story is told from her sister Dawn's perspective. Jewel Ann is so big, almost 45 feet tall and lives a life relegated to her modified room. Her condition is an issue for her mother and father to the point that they don't speak of her and act as if she doesn't exist. Eventually Dawn & her mother notice that Jewel Ann becomes more withdrawn and hardly eats or speaks. In time, she becomes transparent like a ghost. Later on she essentially disappears to Dawn's dismay. However despite that her mother and Dawn still feel her gentle presence throughout the house, as if Jewel Ann has encapsulated the house with them in it. The story is bittersweet & shows how kind Dawn is towards her sister and her condition. While her father on the other hands all takes the issue much more negatively, becoming a difficult and mean person towards his wife. He doesn't seem to have an unconditional love to his poor child. How sad, truly. --- Findings is a story about a woman, a mother and a man a father. She writes about love and being loved while he writes about traveling and killing his father, (or that the character in his story does as such). They write these stories, her stories are more delicate and diliberate while his are more focused on trivial things. He writes of a son and how that son & him find each other. While she writes about their daughter, a hardworking young woman that does more than her fair share. It ends with the mother writing about her daughter and hoping that she may be able to do and become more than she currently is alloted. It is a story of hope, that her daughter will be able to have a better life than the one she has or at least that's what I got from it. The father doesn't seem to notice the daughter or mother, for when he writes it appears very selfish & self centered. --- Olders is a magical story of a man, Farre, returning home from battle serving the crown. He is in a comatose state and accompanied by a physician's helper, Hamid. He is there to help as best he can and to also learn of the myth of the "Olders". Farre's wife, Makali helps and stands steadfast by her husband's side. The changing occurs and Hamid is amazed, confused and all around challenged by this process. That being that the people of this island are Deep Rooted folks. That is to say, when they pass, they don't pass as ordinary humans do. No they change into the living dead, trees. To be planted in their communal groves. Makali uses Hamid to obtain a final response of Farre before he ultimately transistions to this new state of being. I love this story for its imaginative take on life & death. It's curiously wonderful and unexpected. --- The Wise Woman is a brief story about a "wise woman" seeking help from an older woman. The older woman is her Autie & lives in a house that is barren & feels unapproachable to the wise woman. The wise one camps around the house for a few days before finally going to it to seek out the help of their Auntie. The wise woman shows them their burden that she has been packing around in her backpack, her mother, step mother, a child and meat of a lover. They discuss the burdens and eventually the wise woman returns them to her pack but now they feel lighter. She thanks her Auntie and leaves to return on her path. While a short story, it is indeed rather strange. She doesn't get helped as one would think as much as maybe acknowledging the burdens she carries. Maybe is speaking with her Auntie, in doing so it alleviates the weight of them. --- The Poacher is a fairytale. It's about a boy that lives as a peasant on the land of the local barron with his abusive father & meek step mother. She is kind to him despite her husband being so abusive to both of them. The boy spends his days foraging for food in the woods close to their home as his father dictates. His father expecting them to return home with a basket full of poached food as the young boy describes doing that he does in the forest. He comes across a great hedge that he eventually decides to traverse. However he must steal some tools to do so as it will take some time and effort to penetrate the massive and mysterious hedge. In two years time he eventually does and on the other side finds an unusual castle. It appears to be frozen in time due to an enchantment where all the occupants, the guards, the cooks, the royalty and everyone are under a sleeping enchantment. He notices that when he consumes the food that it is returned to its original undisturbed state. All the people are lost in time, doing whatever they were last doing for eternity until someone breaks the spell. The focal point of this enchantment appears to be the princess as she sits at her spool with her finger pricked by the needle. He chooses to not disturb her and remain in this time locked place. He enjoys all of its benefits of being as such far into old age, aging past that of even his own father. He resigns himself to this life as it is far better than the one he had previously. He knows that in time some prince will arrive to break the spell that enchants the castle in enternal sleep but that time will be far from now. Far beyond him caring anymore, for he will most likely pass before then. I really liked this odd story of the boy spending his life in this enchanted caste as it is versus trying to solve the spell and return it to normal. Maybe because he knows he isn't royalty that doing so wouldn't benefit him or that it was better to experience the bliss of it compared to the difficult life he had already lived as a peasant.