Three things from DAH. The There There: Where the heart is.

DAH is me, David Anthony Hance. 
This Letter is Free every Friday!
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First up this week: Popeye … 
When I was a small lad my Mum decided that I should no longer have access to the cartoon Popeye the Sailor Man, by Elzie Crisler Segar. She was concerned that it would inspire me to "bop" the local children. I don't know that I ever did so, but she put her foot down regarding the cartoon sailor. Much later in life I met a charming older gentleman named Tom. We performed together in the local theater (he loved playing Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol). He was a generous supporter of theater productions. A friend explained that he had a modest inheritance from his father. It turned out that Tom Segar was the son of Popeye's creator, and was the model for the cartoon's baby Swee'Pea, son of Popeye and Olive Oyl. Thereafter Tom (bald) looked like Swee'Pea to me, but never inspired me to bop anyone or consumer canned spinach.

Second up this week, Peaches …
I love the smell and taste of peaches. That's my favorite fruit aroma and flavor. And such a sense of summer for me. Unfortunately, I could never get them to grow and fruit. When purchased or gifted by friends, I never could catch them at the perfect moment for consumption. They were always too under-ripe,  or wrinkly over-ripe before I got to them. So discouraging. I do enjoy peaches, but always as juice or canned form. I feel such a fresh fruit failure. I think about Popeye and wonder if I would have been inspired to bop if, instead of canned spinach, the sailor man had sung, "I'm strong to the finish 'cause  I eat my peaches, I'm Popeye the Sailor Man!" Oh, how my life might have been different. 

Third up this week, Poppycock …
Poppycock is such a delightful sounding word. the notion that its closest English-language version is "bosh" is rather a let-down. I actually look forward to opportunities to use poppycock (empty talk, nonsense) it makes me want to giggle. Then, today, I looked it up. "Dutch dialect, pappekak, literally, soft dung, from Dutch pap pap + kak dung, from kakken to void excrement, from Latin cacare — more at CACK. First known use: 1852." (Merriam-Webster). Based upon its word origin I'm less delighted by it now. The defecation angle makes me feel a bit dirty, and less generally amused. I'll think about peaches instead. Nicer aroma. 

A book that's brief and lovely.

On Lighthouses, by Jazmina Barrera (translated by Christina MacSweeney)
I so enjoyed this book. I would have been delighted were it twice as long, but, then, it would have been a different book. So, I'm satisfied. "Jazmina Barrera's On Lighthouses, in Christina MacSweeney's translation, brings to English-language readers one of the most beautiful books in recent Mexican literature. The book collects six essays in which personal memories, literary affinities, historical anecdotes, and travel chronicles are interwoven." (Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado review in Los Angeles Review of Books 30 Nov 2020)

And a bit more: 

"The Centipede's Song," by Roald Dahl (from James and the Giant Peach)

"Now comes," the Centipede declared, "the burden of my speech:
These foods are rare beyond compare – some are right out of reach;
But there’s no doubt I’d go without
A million plates of each
For one small mite,
One tiny bite,
Of this FANTASTIC PEACH!"

And that's all for this week.
From Mary Oliver's "Sometimes"