Category: Uncategorized

I feel like I should really do absolutely nothing of any consequence today. It’s now just after 10am and I haven’t been awake for even an hour. A good start, IMHO. It is raining, off and on, which gives the outside a pleasant sound of hissing and frying. The birds are busy talking about bird stuff and my mom is downstairs watching golf. My cat is probably snoozing somewhere, as is Henry, my sisters 15 year old Westy. He sleeps a lot anyway. I would too, if I were 105. I plan on going to Copake Falls tonight at around 6:30, but that’s hours away. I think I’ll work on a model for a bit and then do the one constructive activity I wish to accomplish: vacuum my office. The scattered carcasses of many bugs are lining the window sills, and for some reason, the baseboard heaters. Break out the Electrolux.

There is an article in today’s New York Times about Croatia, and what a wonderful travel destination it has become. In a way this is sad, because for over 100 years, Croatia has been the Europeans secret little haven and vacation spot. When I was there, I was blissfully aware that there was a dearth of Americans. Now I fear that the scene has changed. It’s not that I don’t like Americans–people are people, there are obnoxious French as well–but Americans seem to be, more often than not, the kind of travelers that wave around large sums of money and speak in loud, American voices when they don’t know the local lingo. As if yelling helps with the translation. Thankfully I think that Croatia is safe, though. Most Americans couldn’t find it on a map if they tried.

Sorry if I sound bitter, but there was a radio article on the current state of the media the other day that made me depressed: most Americans are not interested in foreign news. We seem to live in a vacuum. The United States of Electrolux.

It’s a jungle out there today. The foliage is so lush that there seems to be a kind of prehistoric quality to the plants surrounding the house. The forest primeval is all around, just waiting for us humans to leave so it can get on with the business of growing. These damp days, when book pages curl in the humidity and just thinking too hard makes me sweat, are the cause of dreams and nightmares. In the morning when I wake up, I don’t remember what it was that I had been dreaming, but it had all been vivid and fraught with morphean importance. In the end, I woke up too early, and in the humid hours before sunrise tossed and turned until I fell back into sleep. The phone began to ring, and no one answered. There were the small, far off, sonic invasions of the rooster down the road, and I knew I had to get up eventually. Strange how different sounds make me wake up in different moods, with different feelings. A few nights ago, the eerie cries of a pack of coyotes woke me up at around 2AM. It sounded like an army of ghosts, haunting the field behind my home. Birds outside my window give me the feeling of gentle insistence. If my cat starts talking, it always seems like “What are you doing? Get up, get up!”.

And now its time to pick up the mail. I’m sending the last 4 episodes of the first X-Files season back to Netflix. I won’t receive the beginnings of season 2 until next Tuesday. It should take me about 2 1/2 months to watch the whole shebang.

Then its off to a meeting in Great Barrington. Eventually, when I go back to school, my meetings will die down some, but I’ll go everyday at least. My life continues on and on, with or without my permission.

Johnnyboy