This has been a busy and productive week. Life is a series of mistakes and occasionally there come a few moments of clarity and luck. One of my most helpful lessons over the years has been the learning of “Up” and “Down”. I chuckle at the simplistic tag I’ve assigned this grand life-event. Up and Down are truly nothing more than “Is” in the grand scheme.
I’ve decided to hire a house carpenter to assist me in repairing the house. I’ve reached a point where I know what needs to be done but the order of iterations confuses me and I have lost patience with myself. It has come time to cry “uncle” and bite the bullet. Spend a little money and get ‘er done! I called an old friend who is still in the business. Danny Harris lives in Waldoboro now and he is working a job over on Sawyer’s Island. He can come over to my house and spend a day or two and finish my project of repair to the back of the house.
I have also found a house cleaner who will be here on Wednesday to take on my needs in that dimension. It is helpful to have another person show up and make noises with the vacuum and tell me to pick up my feet once every five minutes. I’m joking now. I do need help with removing dust and bunnies though. I look forward to the interaction and the results.
My Learning to Row classes are all done. I need to take a test; a demonstration that I can fall overboard and then clamber or graciously remount the shell of a boat. I doubt that I will be able to but we’ll see. My body is responding to the exercise events I’ve included in my daily routine. I have an ace of a physical therapist. Jennifer is a sincere, fit, happy, lovely, young person with a good attitude and generously applies standards to my quads, buttocks, hamstrings, etc. I’m enjoying our S&M relationship and I have been granted permission to use the machines on my own. I love the machine that one can lie upon and slide up and down on a sled arrangement that makes the quads “feel the burn”. I’ve seen a big difference in my appearance and attitude. I have found the rowing machines at the “Y” also. 6 minutes of rowing this week every few days and each week I will increase by one minute. Last week was 5 minutes. Oo-Rah! (Marine Growl)
I’ve written a couple of lines here and there and today I was ready to continue reading “The Boys in the Boat” when a thought about zebras and other black and white creatures came to mind; don’t ask me how. I don’t know. My mind went into poetic mode and words and pictures tumbled through that space that is private mostly. What came forth is a train of thought about Jungian concepts of personality light and dark. I wrote down it down. I hope it is readable. Let me know.
ZEBRAS
Let the eye scan
For a detail,
Black on white or
White on black,
The two cloak the
Shape to fool,
To
Trick,
To
Foil.
Like forbidden lovers,
Self and
Shadow,
Like Jekyll and
Hyde,
The Light and
The Dark,
Lovers certainly.
I am drawn to the
Zebra,
The Zebra
Has my Attention,
My eyes and mind focus
On the Texture,
Not so much the
Shape.
What I see triggers
Fear,
The unseen has me
Unsettled,
The Beast inside
The Zebra
Stares back,
Chills my heart.
Aroma of dry grass,
Aroma of
Hot sun,
We both Glare and
Squint,
The Zebra disappears,
Hiding in
Plain sight.
My eyes,
My Brain,
Lose sight of
The creature,
As the Beast and I
Remain,
Engaged in an awkward
Embrace.
The
Creature’s focus as
Sharp as
My own,
My face, form, and
Movements only are its
Deep
Concern,
Pursued, sought, and
Stalked,
We both Pursued and
Now we’ve met,
We’ve converged,
Each curious and
Unfulfilled,
Disquieted.
Self and
Shadow,
Light and
Dark,
Black and
White,
The Zebra and
I.
G. M. Goodwin
28 July 2015
Playing Fair and Being Kind 