C.B. Potts's Blog, page 33

Wednesday Morning

I have been reading Doris Lessing, and am much comforted.

It's still; I don't think the air is moving. I can hear the fan trying; whirr whirr whirr soft. The pump kicks on, in the basement, the house is alive with a soft hum; the water's gone, it's silent. Up the road, a truck is coming, tires thick flat whirring; they downshift sometimes, coming down the hill but not today - today they're in a hurry.

It's a bee day, a bright day, a day full of hot, hot sun. Right now we've got some white clou...

Rise and Shine, Rise and Shine, Rise and Shine

It stormed for hours last night; lightning and thunder, rain and wind. We were like cats, going from room to room to room to watch through the windows; I saw great trees bent double only to stand again. The power stayed on, thankfully, and the pump ran all night long. This morning, the house is whole and dry. A good thing, a good thing indeed.

We went outside, near to midnight, to see the water running in the swamp and through the storm drains. In the yard, the standing water was an inch deep;...

The Chrone Chronicles: Trust Me On This One

What do I do when I don't have anything left to give?

You will ask this question. You will ask this question many times, and every single time, you will think that it is the last time you ask the question. You will be certain the barrel is empty, that you've fed the children the salt pork and the salt and splinter salad, made up from the very bottom, scraped near and dear and close. You will think you are done; that you are hollow; that the very substance of your being has been drawn out. You...

Today's Quote

I prefer to think of ghosts as dents in the fabric of space/time, inflicted by folks who lived their lives so hard they damaged consensual reality. - Esquivel, Godlewski, Cody

Think on: consensual reality

We Need Not Let The Bastards Win

We need not let the bastards win
No, need we not this day
to give over victory
Our hope, our confidence, our knowing beauty
All of this remains

And we need not let the bastards win
Together we can change this
Together we can fix this
Perhaps not today
But in time

And we need not let the bastards win
We might be crying
But we're still fighting
And in our souls we sing

Let No Man Say He Was Surprised

When the inevitable comes to pass, and the road open ever is:

I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
Till the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older and I'm g...

Rise and Shine, Rise and Shine, Rise and Shine

It turns out that sometimes you go to people with a sincere and serious question, and the only sincere and serious answer they can give you is "I don't know." Today, I am practicing being at peace with that. There is no action I can take, thought I can think nor sentiment that I can feel that will put knowledge into other people's heads.

Heck, I have a hard enough time getting knowledge into my own head. I've got no business worrying about other people. Yesterday my schedule got all disrupted...

Rise and Shine, Rise and Shine, Rise and Shine

In Timbuktu, militant fundamentalists tore down ancient monuments with pickaxes. In University Park, PA, a different type of militant fundamentalist is insistent that a not-so-ancient monument stays up.

What a conflicted relationship we have with Story. When we believe something, when we're fully invested in and engaged with a narrative, there is nothing more upsetting and disruptive than having that narrative questioned. The Story we believe becomes more important than the facts we know. We t...

Rise and Shine, Rise and Shine, Rise and Shine

Last night, after supper, there was a rainbow. It'd been raining for a good part of the day - it was raining then - and it was warm, and I stood in the doorway and I watched that rainbow. It stretched not too far - one end started three houses down the road; it ended in my neighbor's pasture - a slow whale roll belly curve upward; nothing too ambitious.

It was faint, then it brightened, and then it started to fade again. It seemed to switch from rainbow to cloud second by second by second, te...

I should be so lucky

Lucky, lucky, lucky. I should be so lucky in love...

Eighties pablum. Color coordinated. Once upon a time, you know, I thought frosted eyeshadow the absolute height of glamor and sophistication.

Today, I am more cynical. It's been a good day, though, a productive day; Tim woke early and painted things; hung curtains, moved furniture about. It took me all the day to clean out a cupboard and wash the dishes and do four or five loads of laundry; it's hot - the clothes, they dry quickly. I'm warmi...