The Writing Moment
On many days, it’s like the muses are dropping breadcrumbs for me to follow. All I can do is scramble to get them, sometimes going back to see if I missed some, all the while trying to look ahead to see if I’m still going where I thought I was going.
Wednesday’s Wandering Thought
He and his friend exchanged hellos. The follow up to his friend, “How you doing today?”
The other boomed a laugh. “Great. I can walk today.”
As both laughed, he said to his friend, “It’s interesting how your standards and goals change as you age, isn’t it?”
Zoomies
Bad weather keeps floofs inside
Where they race around, slide, and glide
Kicking dust up with their paws
Damaging furniture with teeth and claws
Picking up speed, they race and jump
Making us freeze as we hear a distant thump
Leaving us to wonder and shake our heads
Wishing they’d calm down and go to bed
The Routine
He does his ‘business’
Then eats his meal
Sits and watches
Plotting a steal
Then stretches out
Taking up space
And closes his eyes
Content in his place
Monday’s Wandering Thought
When he did chores at home, he always challenged himself with time limits. Vacuum the floors or wax the furniture by such and such time. What will you give me if I do, his neurons always answered, as he rushed about, intent on his artificial goals.
Other people would probably find it silly, maybe childish, making these fake goals, but these small goals helped prop up the day’s structure and keep time from getting away from him. It worked for him, so what did he care what they cared?
It’s not like anyone knew.
Sunday’s Wandering Thought
It happened again last night. We were watching a Brit mystery on our television. Not the biggest one, a mammoth 65-inch critter, curved screen digital and all that, but the smaller 36-in digital flat screen that’s in the snug. Most of our living is in the snug. The corner recliner is the number one place for man, woman, and cats. Woman has number one claim on it, chasing the rest of us with sharply worded orders to “Get out.”
But that’s beside the point. The TV screen is big enough and digitally sharp. Not sharp enough for the moment as a character holds up a cell phone to read a text.
“Here we go,” my wife says. “What’s that say? I can’t see that. How am I supposed to see that? And they take it away so fast, I can’t even focus on it before it’s gone.”
She’s got a point. Kind of weird of them to use things like that. They provide us captions FOR THE HARD OF HEARING, as they nicely put it. (Yes, that IS sarcasm.) Would it be so difficult to include the text messages in the captions?
Saturday’s Wandering Thought
He met three visitors to the town, here for a conference. What’s your specialties, he asked, being polite, making conversation.
They study flies on dead things, they told him.
“Really,” he replied. “What’s the buzz?” He felt that it had to be said.
He didn’t win any laughs. Not even a smile. They’d heard it all before.
Michael Seidel, writer 