Reflections
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Have A Heart
Wanting to avoid last September’s nightmarish experience with a possum who found his way into our furnace and died, my wife and I decided to take steps to prevent such a thing. Yesterday evening, I got my large Have-A-Hart trap from the barn, baited it with marshmallows, and placed it in the cellar. This morning when I let the dogs out, it occurred to me to check the trap, so I went to the cellar and flicked on the light. A young possum, about the size of a kitten, was staring back at me from inside the Have-A-Hart. I waited until I let the dogs back into the house, then…
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Fall’s Beginning
Yesterday I turned a corner of sorts. I had to begin using a cane while on my walks with Jinx. I usually carry a stick or a bokken (wooden sword) in case we encounter any less-than-friendly creatures on our rambles. But age and arthritis and the changing weather seized up all my joints yesterday, and I moved slowly all through my day’s duties, and when the evening had come and it was time to go exploring with the spotted menace, I needed something to actually lean on. The cane was one I bought one day in an antique store. I wonder who the original owner was? I wonder if the…
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Summer’s Last Exhale
Summer’s Last Exhale How it shifts in a flash, the sun’s face bled to the edge of anemia, and I can stand under its living stare and not wither. Half a fortnight ago and just clipping shrubs would see my shirt soaked with salty sweat, but now my toes are numb and all has moved winterward. Jinx the fake heeler sits hard by my feet, spots like bullet holes along his flank, and I wonder what arcane and occult runes I might discover if I connected them in a certain way, perhaps using my sinister hand? At least I wouldn’t have to fear immolation as a witch, because witches have…
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All The Help
While getting ready for work, I glanced down at the trash can in my bathroom. In stark relief against the white interior was a daddy longlegs (harvestman), busily scrambling in an attempt to escape from the situation he’d gotten himself into. Watching the little thing, I thought back to the day when my wife rescued a chipmunk from a wading pool in our back yard. By the time she discovered it, the poor creature had almost exhausted itself swimming round and round, trying to find a way out of the circular and watery hell into which it had fallen. She lifted the chipmunk out and laid it on the grass,…
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Prisstianity
I’m trying very diligently these days to tune out people around me when I am at work, not listening to any conversation which is not directly work-related, not watching their faces or gauging their reactions to others’ words. This is essential for my own tranquility, because I work with a group that is probably a microcosm of what most people think of when encountering the term “office politics.” One young woman (the term “gal” seems completely apt when I think of her) requires me to exert considerable mental effort in order to block out her constant chatter and noise. She is very typical of many people I encounter these days,…
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The Air Above
The three-day weekend was a lovely time of relaxation for my wife and me, helped along in no small part by the weather. The air has changed, the sun’s power seemingly more remote, and the nighttime chill very pleasant. The dogs let us sleep in all three mornings, and we kept windows open during the night, the cool temperatures lulling us and soothing our tired limbs. It’s easy for me to forget how restorative sleep is until I reach a certain point of exhaustion and then am allowed to catch up. The word “rejuvenation” comes closest to how it feels, and this morning I feel rejuvenated. On Sunday, Jinx brought…
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Those Who Soar
I wrote recently about how I hope that Heaven will include for me the chance to fly, to see things from the perspective of the majestic birds I watch daily with a wistful eye and sometimes with a catch in my throat. Last evening while walking with Jinx, a large bird flew across the road in front of me, then swooped high into the locust tree a few yards away. I only got a flash of a look at it, and wondered if it was a peregrine falcon, or perhaps a Cooper’s hawk. I have seen a peregrine twice in the last year in the fields near our home, and…
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What I Most Want
In replying to a comment on one of his recent posts on salvation and Heaven, Bruce Charlton made a very penetrating remark: “In general God grants us what we most want, or a simulacrum of it…” My interior ears pricked up at this phrase because I have been thinking about this very thing for much of the past few days. When it comes to the other side of this life, to Heaven, to what lies beyond, to eternity….what is it that I want? If I believe that my Father will give me the desires of my heart, and if this earthly sojourn serves to shape and refine those desires….where am…
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I Pass, I Wonder
A couple of miles from my home, just off the highway, an old shed juts out of the side of a hill near a double-wide trailer. Such distant structures don’t usually catch my eye, but the last couple of weekends, my wife has done the driving when we venture out. I’ve enjoyed the break and especially the chance to see things I don’t usually notice because I’m focused on the road ahead. The other day I took notice of the shed, and the fact that what looked like an older man was sitting inside the shed in a chair, hunkered over a desk or table. What could he be doing?…
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Walking Up An Incline
Walking up to the mailbox today, I had an epiphany of sorts. I never leave myself alone. I am forever telling myself that I need to be doing x, y, or z. I am perpetually dissatisfied with how I spend my time. I sift through my past days, months, decades, and ignore the glittering flecks. Instead, I focus on the dark sludge along the bottom lip of the pan. There’s always some project that I should be doing. Some habit I need to break. Some improvement I need to make. Some shortcoming I need to fix. Such a mess. There are two of me, (And there are two of you,…