Wake me when it's over

 

The silence coming from the urn flooded the room and

his absence was more apparent now than ever before.

No one spoke and, I don't know why, but shoes were somehow suddenly a focal point.   Obviously no longer the life of the party.

 

 

         ZC

Our Town

 

Walking along Main Street I can see a variety of store fronts and businesses, both old and new.  Of course, the bakery comes with its own aromas, even though the display of treats in the window causes more folks to slow down than does our traffic light.

The Yarn Shop occupies the bottom floor of the next building, The upstairs is our local newspaper office, The Excited Utterance.  and next door to that is an attorney’s office.  Not much of a window display, just wedding cake toppers facing away from each other. 

Our town is too small and out of the way to have a Starbucks, but we do have a bookstore, The Worm Farm, packed with new and used books, along with over-stuffed chairs and quiet classical music.  An assortment of ceramic mugs line the back wall next to the free coffee.  Locals supply their own mug but Sally, the owner of The Worm Farm keeps them washed. 

It is parallel parking along both sides of Main, and only one traffic light that forever flashes yellow.  I seriously doubt a horn has ever been honked here.

ZC

 

 

Box 7030

 

Many states from here, sitting at her desk, she received my letter.  She doesn’t know me or has ever heard of me, and yet she answered with a letter of her own.  A postman neither of us know, carried the letters back and forth between states.

None of us will ever meet.  The relationship is mostly non-existent.  It was just a letter.  She recognized her name on the envelope and I recognized mine, but the postman had no clue about either.   

The pen pals across the country are like the strands of a spider web, stretching across, back and forth, here and there.  The information traveling on those thin threads are like droplets of dew, barely attached and reflecting a light that is hardly noticed. 

Just as the spider represents the element of danger on his web, so has the web of pen pals its own danger.   Sinister and predatory pens can hide in corners and along shadows, just as fishing can tug on something hungry with teeth.  It is the risk of the unknown. 

This Blog has removed the danger and the postage.  It arrives as planned but with no guarantees another will follow.  The unknown has shifted.

 

 

 

 

 ZC

Side bits

 

I never use gravy

and I don’t use salad dressing.

I don’t add cream to my coffee

but I do add sugar.

I use very few facts when writing

and sprinkle commas on everything.

I don’t care what time it is

but I never fail to wind my watch.

I should add here that my watch has never worked.

I like the old black and white movies

just as I like black and white photography better than color.

The number of people telling me what foods are bad for me, has almost grown as large as the varieties of foods that will supposedly kill me.

I’m guessing it is the fur on the squirrels that keeps them from being annoyed by the morning dew on the lawn.  I’m just saying, I see them hopping all through the grass and none of them are a bit concerned about getting wet.

I have never seen squirrels use gravy or salad dressing either, and I doubt they care at all about punctuation.  

 

 

ZC

You'll have to drink from the lake

 

Dear Racoons, Possums and Crows

         I am sorry, but I had to take the water bowl away.  I discovered that the water is where the mosquitoes lay their eggs.  Those hatch and then there are a bazillion more mosquitoes buzzing around.  I know it seems cruel but it’s those things that come back to bite me.

 

 Zobostic

Back at the Beginning

 

I should have been told

back at the beginning

right when I was born

someone should have told me

 

“Oh, by the way

you’re only going to get one,

one best friend – that’s it.

Once they’re gone,

they’re gone.”

 

That would have been a good thing to know

I would have done things differently

I could have been nicer

appreciate things more.

 

I’m not complaining

I’ve had a good life

it’s just

someone should have told me.

 

 

 

            ZC

Best by...

 

At some point I will have exhausted all possible thinking.  This train is bound to run out of track, although at the moment, I can’t see that happening. I am surrounded by ideas and things and different sides of things I have already examined.

The question, of course, is what will happen to me once I run dry?  Will I develop a new hobby, or retreat into the library and immerse myself in someone else’s stories.

Maybe I’ll spend my time wandering through little one-street towns, and talk with the locals.  Thinking about old towns and dusty products on the store shelves, I never did put a Best By date on the blog.  I guess there should be one.  It isn’t always going to be good or relevant. 

I think the Best-BY date depends upon the blog you are looking at.  If it is printed on paper, then the pages will eventually turn yellow and become a little crunchy, however, if you are viewing it on a computer or iPhone, then I guess Google will determine when to pull the plug, and that may or may not come with an advanced warning.

Maybe I should construct a massive literary turntable, so once I reach the blog’s end, I can simply rotate around and head back the other way.  It’s a thought anyway.

 

 

 

 

 ZC