Bench, again
Because I was too lazy to go for coffee, it was getting late and the view from my bench is just fine.
I feel a bit like Forest Gump just sitting there...
You watch the river, Canada geese circling the islands, the odd lone beaver swimming, the silence punctuated by joggers and odd couples walking and talking quietly amongst themselves.
It's grey, cool, cloudy, occasional stray raindrops splash onto my notebook, smudge the ink, no real threat, just aimless drops.
Sitting, watching, the grey clouds run like a band down the center of the sky, to the east it's all blue, to the west you can see a break low on the horizon.
Sounds of the river, of people passing, traffic.
And now the sun has passed the clouds and for 5, 6 minutes perhaps the sky, the river is lit up, no longer grey but blue and green with white caps on the waves, reflected sunlight, a thousand silvery winged motes hang in the air, the leaves and trees acquire a gem-like coloring, jewel tone shadings of phthalo green, pastel orange-yellow-grey clouds on a cerulean blue sky, it's been an hour on the bench for 5 minutes of perfection, the sun brilliant and low on the horizon, now behind a tree and you can see climbing into the sky the crepuscular rays, and my time is done.
- Details
- Category: Miscellany
2nd Armchair Gone
And the 2nd armchair is gone, gone the same way as the first which is good as I didn't like to see them separated, not after their having been together so long. I left it on the front step and the lady who purchased the first came and retrieved it.
I thought, briefly, of writing some torrid ancient love letters and hiding them in the stuffing, or a map to some lost familial treasure, but there wasn't enough time, and really, at the price, it wasn't worth the effort. Or a letter congratulating her on her fine financial acumen, congratulating her on the deal she acquired, maybe even a first person letter letting her know how glad the chair was to be reunited with it's more beautiful twin. But again, not enough time, and certainly not at that price.
The important thing is that they're gone, and there's a hole in the living room where they used to be but I think to myself that it's 2 less chairs I'll have to move.
- Details
- Category: Miscellany
Sheepish Cat
The cat's running across the lawn, mouth bristling with feathers, she's caught a newly fledged robin and I bend down to take it from her, check it to see if it's all right, still alive, the cat looks sheepish as if to try and tell me she found it hurt and was bringing it to me, she looks indifferent to it, the parents have followed along and are squawking from nearby trees.
It appears to be all right and I settle it in my palms, smooth the feathers, it's unable to fly, the cat disinterestedly, innocently watches from the front step.
Now what?
I take the shrine to the beloved Fatima bird feeder and prop it head height in a nearby tree. I settle the fledgling in it, here he (she) should be safe, hopefully the parents can handle the rest. The cat, she's staying in the rest of the day.
By the next morning the robin was gone.
- Details
- Category: Miscellany
A rational man dogged by small superstitions
I'm a rational man dogged by small superstitions.
If I spill the salt I make sure to quickly throw a pinch over my left shoulder. I pick up pennies, there's the rhyme: "See a penny, pick it up, and then all day you'll have good luck" and I know it at least dates from the day when you could buy a beer with a penny, now there's nothing you can buy for a penny, still I pick them up.
I stare at funerals. If I'm off garage saling or to thrift shops I consider it a good omen if the bus is there, or shortly there, the time the bus takes to arrive is directly proportional to the success I'll have at the thrift shop/garage sale/ what have you. Reason only consoles me when the bus is late.
And there's a spell I have, the only one really, to bring the bus I light a cigarette.
- Details
- Category: Miscellany
Page 860 of 997