the sunday read - 3

on seeing and looking

hey friend, hope you’re well. i’m giving myself a few minutes to sit. wondering how you’d feel about doing the same. surely the world can get by without the two of us for a while, eh? yeah, alright. i’ll go put the kettle on. be right back.

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well glory be, there’s actually milk today. so it’s an actual cuppa tea. in one of the old family china mugs. which somehow always makes it feel like an occasion. and i’m okay with that.

might be just as well to give coffee a miss, i think. been a few too many days in a row powered by the deep brown magic. means it’s probably time to shift over to non-caffeinated beverages for a while. but for today, a late morning cuppa tea feels about right.

looking out the window, there’s a patch of sun just coming out. the weather’s been decent for where we are in fall—which, like spring, is a bit of a process. mind you a couple of nights ago there was some serious weather blowing about. even had to face morning leftovers from the freezing rain. though it was gone soon enough. not really made to last. just a hint of what’s possible. good to be reminded. yeah, fall’s a process.

it was still and clear the other evening as i was stood outside waiting for a visitor. they were a bit delayed, so i had a few minutes to actually take in my surroundings.

after a while i noticed that someone had taken down the massive banners offering a tour of the building. which means people won’t comment on the ‘big flags’ any more—and i’ll no longer be able to innocently drop the thought that they only fly them when i’m in residence. a small personal sadness.

i’d walked the short length of the half-block to the main road a good handful of times while i was waiting.

eventually i noticed… a thing.

about a week before i’d lost track of something. assumed i’d left it at a rehearsal. figured it’d surface eventually. then i forgot about it. on this particular night, i’d been walking past this lump in the roadway for a good fifteen minutes. you know how it is, the mind labelled it ‘lump’. and, seeing nothing of interest, moved on.

eventually i actually looked at it.

yeah, i laughed.

it’d clearly fallen out of the car while i was dealing with gear. been there in the roadway for a good few days. rained on. driven on. snowed on. and that freezing rain i was talking about.

of course i assumed it was ruined. but i couldn’t just leave it there. turns out it washed up just fine. even has a nice patina of age that it didn’t have before.

as a matter of fact, since this is officially plaid shirt and layers weather, i’m wearing it right now.

in part as a reminder.

to, i don’t know, maybe have a look around.

never know what i might find.

when i’m actually looking.

yeah, that’s a lesson. and, it turns out, one that’s wearable. which happens more often than you might think.

though as i look around me right now, mostly what i’m seeing is the rest of that mess o’ things from the last week or so. i promised myself i’d sort out the last of it when i finally got a decent day.

and i guess maybe that’s today.

ah well, good to sit for a minute, tho. thanks for that. hope your day has some useful in it. write when you get a chance. i’ll do the same.

promise.

k