Telegram

Remnant

In the dark and drubblie dawn following the rainy night, I awake to worries about how the heavy rains have effected my four places: the housesit, my own home, the Rummage, and the church. So far I have been to two of the four and things are okay. At Rummage, the corner of one tent sags a d is probably a basin full of water. Pre-sale isn't till Thursday so we will probably dry out. Church has unresolved water issues and is intolerant of heavy rain. Yesterday I saw that the gutters were filling up with leaves. Angel Falls.
David on 09.29.04 @ 06:45 AM CST [link]

Bouquet

Nine roses in a boot.
David on 09.27.04 @ 07:04 AM CST [link]

Door

There is a wall. It is made of great, big stones, is ten feet high, and a quarter-mile long. It follows the Far Hills-Liberty Corner Road, a few feet to the east. It is overhung with foliage, but otherwise it is impossible to see what is behind it. About halfway along, there is a door. A small door, made of wood, just high and wide enough for one. As long as I've been traveling that road, the door has always been closed; but yesterday I saw a man with a wheelbarrow go through it. I saw through the door. I saw what was on the other side. Then I was past and saw again the unbroken expanse of stone wall.
David on 09.24.04 @ 07:04 AM CST [link]

Contact

It comes as a glance, a word, a touch. She got back from the hospital and merely touched my back as she passed, and that was enough. I heard the details later, from someone else; about the accident, the injuries, the prognosis. Z came in later, withdrawn, forehead creased, avoiding contact. She's like that sometimes, and you just have to respect the "No Trespassing" sign and wait for her to take it down.
David on 09.23.04 @ 07:12 AM CST [link]

The lamp full of oil yearns to be lit.


David on 09.21.04 @ 07:07 AM CST [link]

Marbles

It was a question of marbles. She wondered whether the Toy Department had some, and, anxious to please, I went over to retrieve some. I came back with a striped, octagonal hatbox, half full of plastic bags half full of marbles. Clear, cloudy, red, blue, opaque, simple, complex. We stood together, looking in, sharing the best ones, talking softly about them, wondering what to do.
David on 09.19.04 @ 07:02 PM CST [link]

Wet

Waiting. The remnants of the storm that was once Ivan are hovering, at his hour, just to our west, and are expected to move through today. It's the last Saturday for donations, and it'll be unpleasant in the rain and the mud. We are inconvenienced and dismayed, first, but we remember also what a real catastrophe this storm has been for our neighbors to the south. I pray they get the break they need from this stormy season, and find the encouragement and hope to continue, and rebuild.


David on 09.18.04 @ 06:43 AM CST [link]

Ajar

The medicine cabinet is slightly open this morning, and I can see that its contents are, as usual, very uninteresting and uninspiring. No prescription drugs. Over the counter, I buy three kinds of analgesics and almost never use them; every once in a while I have a cold, or sinus, or allergies, and I buy a package of analgesic-plus medicine, never take any of it, and let it expire. Last time I bought some, I cut out the middleman by accidentally throwing the stuff out right away. Otherwise, the cabinet has thermometers, sticky and elastic bandages, nail-cutters, Rugrats toothbrushes, and a decorative flower
made of anti-skid material to glue to the bottom of the tub.
David on 09.17.04 @ 06:39 AM CST [link]

My Old Pal

Ben is gone. Last week they made the decision to send him to his rest, and the veterinarian acted as stygian boatman and hastened him along. The last few times I took care of him we struggled: he needed help getting up; he needed shots; he was often indifferent to his food, his water, his toys; he would wake up disoriented and frightened and call out for comfort; he would become exhausted hafway through his walk and struggle slowly home. Thanks for being my friend and teacher, Ben. Good dog.


David on 09.15.04 @ 06:49 AM CST [link]

Rummage, Day z -- Making It Up

I said that maybe we could have a new game, one that we both could enjoy.


David on 09.14.04 @ 06:57 AM CST [link]

Pearl

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

Matthew 13:45-46


For a story that consists of two sentences, there's a lot to think about here. The merchant, one presumes, surrounds himself with pearls, all of which are valuable and pleasing and good. But then there's this one: exceptional, exceeding all others,indispensible. Apparently he doesn't even have to think, but does all that he finds necessary, however great a sacrifice, in the effort to acquire the pearl. Strangely, there is no particular implication that this is an "investment" upon which he expects a return; it seems as though he simply loves pearls and can't go on without having this one. I have seen my pearl of great price; why do I choose to give less than everything in order to have it?


David on 09.12.04 @ 06:03 AM CST [link]

Numerics

It is 52 degrees out and I weigh 139 today. I live at nine and work at one (different streets); my friend lives at seventeen and works at twelve (same street). I live in 07920 and telephone from 908; previously I lived in 02635 (203) and 02090 (617). When I lived in California neither number was yet in use. More locally, my current exchange is 647 and the previous ones were 443 and 326. Right now I have 81 dollars on me in cash. My odometer recently crossed over 63,000; I paid $1.97.9/gallon for gas yesterday. I have never read 1984, but I possess a 1984 yearbook in which I am not featured. I do not know any medical numbers about my body. I have memorized my social security number, but I choose not to tell it. I was given a check the other day, 1565, for $33.95, but haven't yet cashed it. The last one I wrote, 2904, was to the phone company and was for $33.33. I will not refer to today by a number. It is 6:46 AM.
David on 09.11.04 @ 06:47 AM CST [link]

Political

As a people we reward ambition ar more than conviction, and we find the uncomfortable evidence of this with every political season. This has been perennialy true of the incumbent: like a chameleon, he takes on the colors of his surroundings, and there are some scary beasts in that jungle right now. The challenger, who appears to be more suited to the job by temperament and training, took his moment in the spotlight to yield to ambition by "reporting for duty". Formerly he was disciplined enough to downplay his military record, but he put conviction aside in an effort to shore up his perceived shortcomings. The proof that he's the better candidate is that it was even possible for him to disappoint; expectations for the other guy are too low for that.


David on 09.10.04 @ 06:21 AM CST [link]

Rummage, Day x -- Fragments

Donations have been off, which is to say that they have not been overwhelming. Tuesday was baby day: I saw three, and I know that at least two more were there before I arrived. Yesterday we had our first rainfall, so the ground softened up enough for me to move some stakes. K couldn't find the ones and twos. So far rummage psychosis has not set in, at least with me; those who have been there for the mornings, hot, humid, rainy,have had it worse. Z looked played out by the end of her day Monday. P plays with the water.


David on 09.09.04 @ 07:11 AM CST [link]

Labor Day Party

I don't get so many hospitable invitations that I feel I have the luxury of refusing any. So I never considered not going. I have long felt that the Meyersville bunch were really my crowd, much more than the Basking Ridge set, but I really don't know many of them. I clung to those I knew, too exhausted to be socially adventurous, and looked at the pond and the trees. I got an interesting look from a lot of people, one that meant either, "I've seen you somewhere before but I'm not sure where," or, "I've seen you somewhere before, and I know where, but I'm not sure why I'm seeing you here." It was okay.
David on 09.07.04 @ 07:12 AM CST [link]

Had we but World enough, and Time,
This coyness Lady were no crime.
We would sit down, and think which way
To walk, and pass our long Loves Day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges side
Should'st Rubies find: I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood:
And you should if you please refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than Empires, and more slow.
An hundred years should grow to praise
Thine Eyes, and on thy Forehead Gaze.
Two hundred to adore each Breast:
But thirty thousand to the rest.
An Age at least to every part,
And the last Age should show your Heart.
For Lady you deserve this State;
Nor would I love at lower rate.
But at my back I alwaies hear
Times winged Charriot hurrying near:
And yonder all before us lye
Desarts of vast Eternity.
Thy Beauty shall no more be found;
Nor, in thy marble Vault, shall sound
My echoing Song: then Worms shall try
That long preserv'd Virginity:
And you quaint Honour turns to dust;
And into ashes all my Lust.
The grave's a fine and private place,
But none I think do there embrace.
Now therefore, while the youthful hew
Sits on thy skin like morning [dew],
And while thy willing Soul transpires
At every pore with instant Fires,
Now let us sport us while we may;
And now, like am'rous birds of prey,
Rather at once our Time devour,
Than languish in his slow-chapt pow'r.
Let us roll all our Strength, and all
Our sweetness, up into one Ball:
And tear our Pleasures with rough strife,
Through the Iron gates of Life.
Thus, though we cannot make our Sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.



David on 09.05.04 @ 08:21 PM CST [link]