"I saw how a man who, unexpectedly, in midlife, had been dumped for someone else, might struggle to keep up his old sense of self, his old optimism. How he might take on an Indiana Jones look, indicative of hopes of adventure, while being careful not to get into anything new that might result in further pain. I saw the polite charm, the detachment, the silk shirt and the expensive restaurant ...
Erosion
Middling
"Fair to middlin'...," she says, visibly, audibly, olfactorily tired. Like a threshold, I think to myself but say nothing since she looks and sounds unready for clever or even philosophical fat chewing. "How have you been?" I had asked reflexively. "Fine, and you?" That's what I expected if I expected anything at all. But instead, a verbal grimace, "Fair to middlin'." I can't help but prologue her ...
Tea Bag Truism
Dumpster diving for new goals and a clean slate. It's paramount to create from decay and erosion. From margins to mainstream, mind over mattress. Incentives are paramount. Stay tuned... ...
Compost
I've called it munge, the Daily Munge, for two decades, a term I pilfered from an article about archeology and layers of detritus compressed, transformed over time, long-long time. But the article vanished. Or maybe my memory invented it for want of an apt metaphor. Munge. Unverified. And while it’s served me well enough over the handwriting, typing, and dictating days since, I have begun to ...
Memento Mori by A. D. Hope
I noticed today the loosely wrinkled skin On legs and arms, no defect, no disease But simply signs of time, the body's decrease Of power and of repair as these begin The ultimate indications of old age. ~ A.D. Hope ("Memento Mori" via Australian Poetry Library) I return again to memento mori, not to wax morose or moribund but to remind myself to laugh and dance and take nervous risks and strain ...
Aging
Despite the unflinching march of time so much of the stonework at Machu Picchu remains structurally, aesthetically sound today. Precision. Perfection. Endurance. It's exhausting to even contemplate the hours, the lives it took to transform a mountaintop into a sacred city. We were fortunate to visit once. I hope to return. It's profoundly inspiring to see that some beauty improves with aging... ...