Hardly self-evident

 

        I have always enjoyed learning about the law and exploring all the in's and outs of how it functions.  Every now and then, of course, hearing how it has failed.  A few days ago I decided to buy a copy of the constitution, just to have and hopefully become a little more familiar with it's bones.

        My first exposure reminded me of how differently people spoke back when this was written.  Oh my goodness.  I have seen LA freeways look less confusing than most of these sentences.  Many of these paragraphs should have signs posted as to which direction they are traveling in now, and large orange traffic cones to help keep you on track.

        The Founding Fathers, seems an appropriate phrase, as I think it alludes to them getting lost.  And I can't believe that all of those who signed it, completely understood what they were agreeing too.  FYI, reading it multiple times doesn't help.

        I 'd hazard a guess that the best lawyer out there not only has a law degree but a degree in linguistics as well, and probably still cheats at scrabble.

Heaven Scent

 

Out for my daily walk through the neighborhood this morning felt just a little cooler than these past few days.  It was nice.  Everything was so quiet and fresh.  Just four houses down from mine I got the very strong aroma of tomato soup.  If someone inside was making it I couldn’t understand why I could smell it all the way out to the street. 

Then, not much further, I smelled bacon.  Now that I could understand.  That is a very strong and heavy scent.  It smelled great and now I want bacon for breakfast.

OK, this is weird.  Today must be a day of smells.  Now I can smell modeling clay, like we had in kindergarten.  That, truly is a unique smell, but why and where is it coming from? 

It is like I’m walking through varying clouds of odor.  Different odors all over the neighborhood.  I have never experienced this before.  I wonder if it is my nose, just all of a sudden working.  And why now?  I haven’t done anything different.  And they’re not all cooking smells.  That’s the odd part.  People don’t get up in the morning and start playing with modeling clay. 

I was curious now to get back to my house and see what it smelled like from the road.  By half a block away I could see the flashing lights.  There was an ambulance and a squad car in front of my place.  I began walking faster.  As I got close enough, I noticed a few of my neighbors already standing out in the street and on front lawns.  I had no clue.  Then I heard one tell the other that he had died in his sleep. 

Who?  That’s my house.  Who?  But they didn’t answer me.  It was like they didn’t even see me standing there. 

Then I saw them bring out the stretcher.  I couldn’t believe it.  There I was.  I looked like I was still asleep.  I just stood there stunned.  So, this is it?  I die and suddenly my nose starts working?  What kind of deal is that?

 

 

 ZC

Blogs without Borders

 

If I went everywhere my Blog has gone, I would have needed a passport, shots, money, snacks, extra socks and better shoes.  There would have been language barriers and unfamiliar smells.  More than likely I would have required an umbrella and a heavier coat.  I also may have needed the exact change, depending on potential transportation choices.

It is so much easier this way.  I stay here and just send my Blog out for all the adventure.  It seems to do fine with no help from me and requires none of the things I do.

 

 

 ZC

With a few bubbles rising to the surface

 

Ever since Christmas he had flown several missions over to Tommy’s house.  Then there was that unfortunate cat encounter.  It is still talked about.  It was a surprise sneak attack that no one could have anticipated.

Fluffy had never shown any interest in their war games.  In fact, she had ignored everything they had done up to that point.  We think it was using her climbing post as a control tower that got her attention.

The aircraft had developed some issues during flight.  She began to sputter and fly erratically.  It may have been the sound of sputtering along with the up and down motion that had put the enemy on alert. 

Her attack was swift and on target.  With one deadly mid-air swat she rendered the prop useless, and the craft plunged helplessly into the depths of the water dish below.

 

            War glue was going to be needed.

            ZC

Long after

 

The actors have all gone back to their day jobs.  The audience melted into the suburbs and disappeared. Only the writer remains, toiling over what could have been said better, and second guessing the timing.  The curtain, however, has come down.  It is over, except for a few random reviews that still sting and fester within the stockboy arranging the green beans along the shelf.  He had practiced his lines a hundred times.  Many times in his mirror and now again to the French-cut audience before him.

 

“You lack the experience.  You’re still green.”

 

The shopper pushes her cart quickly around him, concerned the employee has gone off the rails.

 

 

 

         ZC

There's no such thing

 

It was a simple little bungalow, in a typical neighborhood.  It was a brick construction, three-bedroom, one bath house with a basement.  It wasn’t much but it was what we could afford.  There were two mature Oak trees in the yard and from what the neighbors had said, it was a good school system.  Even though we didn’t have any children yet, we found that comforting. 

By the end of our third week in the house, we had gathered several pieces of furniture, some from my parents and some from hers.  We bought two chairs from a garage sale.  The back bedroom had a card table full of her art supplies and several boxes with her paint brushes and bits of stained glass she planned on working with. 

The one thing I had not mentioned to Gracie, and the reason we were able to buy the house at such a reasonable price, was that it was supposedly haunted.  I didn’t really believe in such things, so why bother getting her all worked up about it.  Last night, however, when I made my way to the bathroom, I heard a faint knocking on the door.  Here’s the thing, it wasn’t the front door, it was the door to the back bedroom, where Gracie's art supplies were.  Gracie and I were the only two people in the house, and she was sleeping.  There couldn’t have been anyone in that bedroom.  We kept the door closed in order to keep the heat from the furnace in the main living area.  We didn’t see any point in heating a room we weren’t using.

Had it been scratching sounds, I could have told myself that some animal had gotten in, but they weren’t scratches, they were knocks, and it happened again as I was standing there in the hall.  There was no way I was going to reach out and turn that doorknob, and I was hoping Gracie didn’t hear it and wake up.

 

 

 

 

 ZC

 

 

 

 

 

One Lonely Knight

 

Blue hair and afghanis are now what I see

old men with Band Aids all surround me

dotting the landscape, the ones not in bed

try to recall what tattoos once said

 

Smells from the lunchroom, scents from the hall

every day’s Sunday – no weekdays at all

checkers abandoned, there’s one lonely knight

the game is still playing with no players in sight.

 

Television flickers, the volume’s insane

those not at breakfast – circle the drain

no one dare comment - the size of the crowd

bad luck will visit if you say it out loud.

        ZC