Let’s be real. We have no blessed idea what happens from here, I mean, once the lights go back on. Because to believe there will ever be a normal kind of normal, well . . that went away with September 11th. Everything and every day since has been a differently textured sense of normalcy, to which we held because there is something called the everyday to attend to, after all.
Now this, and now the world . . the whole entirety of it, holds its breath in anticipation of light at the end of a tunnel we never saw coming.
Things will change, because that’s how any kind of abrupt intermezzi works on the human psyche. We change, if only in miniature. But still, the things we hold to will have their aesthetic pulp to which we can still be quenched. Just this morning, I was thinking about certain of these items to which my pulse expands. And I knew that no matter what the world ends up looking like on the B side of things, these things will hold me to.
Always.
- Walking into a baseball stadium and looking out over the field of play and just marveling at the heavenly construction. Wondering how it was possible that someone conceived this mystical design: the idea that fielders could master the vast expanse and pitchers would be able to make a small white pill speak foreign languages whilst hitters could turn on one in the time it takes to blink? And the dimensions of that diamond will seem the most fantastical endeavor of them all. As legendary columnist Red Smith once opined, “Ninety feet between bases is perhaps as close as man has ever come to perfection”.
- The hush that comes over a movie theater when the crackle of the featured attraction starts to pop across the screen.
- That buzz, the gloriously definable buzz that washes over a restaurant as dozens of loose conversations weave themselves together. Accompanied by mysterious noises from an unseen kitchen, the clink of glasses. And laughter, ransoming its way across the walls as if you could pick it up and take some for yourself.
- Standing in front of a piece of art and letting time fall away, like so many leaves on a mysterious tree. Wondering what captured the imagination of the artist to figure out that kind of magic.
- Running in the park on a spring morning as I pass by a fellow who’s having better luck with his smokes than with dinner. Dogs run across the emerald sweep as their owners toss them a ball. While kids and their parents negotiate the parameters of their afternoon and kites break the sky into small and wondrous pieces.
- Hugging
- The sound of a jet overhead as it navigates the muffled crease of a moonlit night. And for a moment, you wonder where that plane is going to and where it came from. And how the world is just this: A collection of fragmented stories, pieced into billions of pieces we will never get to know. And yet, we somehow understand.
- High fives
- Book stores, whose perimeters are lined with pilgrims of the written word and java junkies and festering brush fires of idle conversations.
- City traffic that gets captured by a photographers lens and immortalized in a million different ways that we somehow take for granted.
- A stranger’s smile
- Holding hands
For now I lay my head on the pillow and think about a world that caught fire. And perchance there is a dream to be had, and if so I want to dream about some quiet, normal day when all of this will be relegated to hushed whispers.
And nothing more than that.
Those holds are perfect and made me smile. I still marvel whenever I enter a hockey rink knowing that less than 24 hours ago before, a professional basketball team played on the surface (The Pepsi Center has a real quick turnaround). Lately I’ve been truly savoring the simple sights Mother Nature is supplying that I have perhaps taken for granted in the past. This morning, following a lovely thundershower last night, I notice many lilacs burst forth with their beautifully scented blooms. The scent has never smelled as good. Happy Sunday.
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Monika,
There is so much inside the simple, quiet places, isn’t there? I am always amazed by it, never more than right now since yanno . . we don’t have these simple things that mean so much.
And I know, right? There is nothing like overlooking an arena or a stadium before things get started.
Nature is providing, abundantly. I see deer everywhere. Raccoons taking charge. And the ducks and the birds are building condos, like . . everywhere.
And the blooms . . it’s one of my favorite things inside a run.
Happy Sunday to you
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The quiet has been the best part of this whole cluster. And quality air that doesn’t make me start coughing as I briskly walk up a hill with the dogs. Maybe this was the universe’s way of getting us to slow down and take the simplest things of life.
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It really has.
The universe talks to us if we listen. Problem is, there is just so much damned noise most of the time that we don’t hear it. Excepting for now, of course.
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Very true. Coupled with a culture who expectations revolve around being catered to…regardless of others 😬
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Amen to that sister.
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B,
I know it’s Sunday when you give us these writings. No. We have no blessed idea of what lies ahead. And normal is such a huge word when we stop and realise what we have been living for almost two months now. And we don’t want to return to the normal we knew, do we? Not a lot of it.
That the whole world is living this together is a gift. Everyone understands that this is otherworldly. (Well, minus the a-holes who think they understand but don’t act like they do.)
Things have to change even if it only lasts a short while because we humans are a demanding lot.
Your list is a wonderful list. I could add a few, I am sure, but shall refrain and add a list of what I hope remains when the lights come back on.
– strangers smiling hello as you pass them
– families cooking and eating together
– not rushing from one “important” thing to another
– walking: to the corner store instead of taking the car; hand in hand just talking and enjoying the sounds of nature not being interrupted by the noise of non-stop traffic,
– respecting others for their contribution. Never before have janitors and cleaning personnel and grocery store cashiers, etc. been given the respect they deserve; that they are getting now.
Your dream will come true. We just don’t know when.
Wonderful, joyful music to go with this lovely, reflective piece
Q
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Q,
The thing about each new chapter of ‘normal’ is that none of them ARE. They’re simply the next chapter to a book whose words are entangled in chapters long gone.
Global. World. All of it. I know there are a great many people who localize the situation. It’s human to personalize, but it’s also important to understand we are not the only ones. It’s everyone and it’s everywhere.
Beautiful list indeed. And it will be so, for those of us who take this moment in time with us. And we call do carry something, don’t we? So we may as well make it something worth carrying.
It will. I know. And I’ll be ever more thankful and appreciative for it.
I’m into these jams right now, and this seemed the perfect song. To venture back the mountains from whence we come. And to be able to overlook the great big canvas below and understand it’s all connected.
B
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This is true.
Of course people tend to personalize; human nature. But man. If ever there was a time to see that we are all on this globe together. It is now.
Yes, it is. We all do carry something. I know I am definitely making it worthwhile.
It will. I know I will be, as well. And I like to think most will be. There will be those that will only carry the negative forward – they are unbreachable. And that’s too bad. I won’t let them remove any grace I have.
Absolutely. It is.
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And who knows, maybe enough people will get the lesson. And maybe all the bluster the noise made by the rest of them won’t matter as much. And I know, that’s a lot of maybe going on, but it means there is a chance at least.
There has to be a tangible commodity to this, I think. Not simply a “Oh yeah, I remember that time” story. But an actual thing we do. Doesn’t have to be much. Doesn’t have to be known to all. But it has to be.
Those who choose to spell this as a side will always try. We don’t have to let them matter as much, that’s all.
😘😘
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Who knows indeed? I like to think many of these maybes will happen. You know, as I take my walks, I overhear bits of conversations and almost everyone says things like: the silver lining of this situation is this or that; I don’t want to go back to the way things were; this is an opportunity to make changes… So. Yeah. I like the sense of the potential future.
There has to be.
Nope. I know I won’t. I’m pretty good at blocking naysayers already.
😘😘
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You’re a glass half full kinda gal, you know that? I want you to stick around so I don’t have to rely on the dregs of my half empty glass. 😉
HAS to be
You really are. And it is a gift, I tell you. A gift!
😘😘
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I am. However, I am more of a “it can be refilled” kinda gal as well… so yeah, you best keep me around 😉
There will be.
It’s been a learning experience.
😘😘
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Speaking of which, I needs me a refill.
😘😘
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Hang on, coming right up!!
😘😘
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Ba . . meet Uuutee
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You talkin’ to me?
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You best believe it.
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Hoooo eeeee!!
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That’s Southern for Hells Yeah!
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You got it…… Pontiac!
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Come on now!
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🤣😂
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😉
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At our hearts we will be the same. But the world around us will be different. We will adapt and eventually thrive.
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I’ll take it, Pam. Thank you.
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I think we all will be more conscious of the things you mention Marc. I was out in the backyard and was surprised to hear a jet going overhead. It was such a strange sound I had to look up. I didn’t see it but also I haven’t heard that sound for quite a while. Have a peaceful Sunday.
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I do too Boss.
And I can imagine! Out here, all I get are the military aircraft and the four seaters, LOL.
Here’s to some peace, Boss.
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And family picnics on holiday weekends.
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Nice one, G
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🙂 Really missed Easter.
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Me and the kids are doing an Easter re-do at some point.
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🙂
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What minor league stadium is in that picture?
Your description of walking into a baseball stadium is spot on. Every time I go to a game, there is a moment when I first get there when I just need to pause and breathe it all in. It just hits all of the senses, including the smell of garlic fries or heated plastic nacho cheese. The sights and sounds.
And you hit the nail on the head in your other elements. The hubbub of conversations in a restaurant.
This was perfect.
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King,
That’s Clipper Magazine Stadium, where the Independent League Barnstormers play ball. I love how I can move around during the game, and I usually spend the last inning in one of the “bleacher seats”, trying to see if I can catch a home run.
Nothing like it. No sport has that feeling that a baseball stadium gives you. It’s like walking into a cathedral. You can almost feel the stories that have happened there.
And how is it I only crave a hot dog when I’m at a game?
It’s the simple things that keep.
Thank you.
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My god, exactly. I never want to eat a hot dog, and I never want that plastic cheese crap. But take me to a ball game and I want a dog and a nachos and a $75 beer.
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And it all tastes like a five star meal!
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Indeed.
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I take a slighter micro view when I will be able to just meet with a friend in a local bar or restaurant to chat really face-to-face. Then all will be right with my world again.
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I love the quiet, simple things like that, Eilene. That is where it’s at right there.
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💗
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Gracias LA
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Beautiful. Hope you get to experience all these and more soon, Cheers my good fellow
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Me too, Peter. Thank you my man.
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I love this. It goes back to you never know how much you enjoy something, the little things, until it’s missing from your life. I pray we all experience the little things that matter to us soon.
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It really is the little things that make such a big difference in our lives. Thanks George.
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