“Good morning, Brother Chris. Your tomatoes are spectacular.” “Praise be to God.” “Would you like some help weeding?” “Thank you, Brother Jacob, I would love some. My knees are killing me.” “Are they? You always look so content here, working in your garden.” “I am, in mind and spirit, but the body does have aContinue reading “Pulling Weeds”
Tag Archives: Philosophy
Dixie
The sideshow acts had been run-of-the-mill. I saw a bearded lady and a man who ate glass. At the end of a line of tents sat one with no sign. The barker invited me in and I asked what I would see. “Something that must be seen to be believed.”
“Bartleby’s Preference” at Crack the Spine
Yuri led an ordered life. He woke up at 7 am, and his breakfast always included half a grapefruit eaten with a serrated spoon. It took him 12½ minutes to bike to his job as a network security consultant and 13½ minutes to bike back (he lived uphill). The hour before bedtime was spent readingContinue reading ““Bartleby’s Preference” at Crack the Spine”
“The Meditations of Fra Colleoni” at Gravel
“But does it work?” Dr. Seaver leaned back in his chair and blew on his mug of instant soup. The steam fogged his glasses. “Of course not. It’s just a thought experiment.” “Oh,” I said, picking up a doohickey on the professor’s desk. “Of course.” The doohickey, or maybe gizmo is a better word, hadContinue reading ““The Meditations of Fra Colleoni” at Gravel”
“Proof” at Revolution John
“A boy adjusts the position of a box of tissues on his desk and sits cross-legged on his bed. It is a Sunday afternoon and he has nothing else to do. The door to his room is closed, and nobody will bother him before dinnertime. He has all afternoon to make the box of tissuesContinue reading ““Proof” at Revolution John”
The Briefcase
Every day Jerry started writing a new novel in the hope that the next day he would find his efforts worthy enough to continue. This never happened. Yesterday’s writing was always Yesterday’s Writing, old and dull and foreign from the new day’s line of thinking. He had been a salesman for thirty-five years, and heContinue reading “The Briefcase”
The Rich Man’s Troupe
So you wonder how it’s possible to spend the amount of money I manage to spend. You may well wonder. I didn’t learn how to spend like this right away. It took time. One must look beyond the more mundane luxuries, first of all. Unless cars are the joy of your life, you can onlyContinue reading “The Rich Man’s Troupe”
The Tavern Guitar
“Stand where I am standing,” he said, “across from the wine colored window.” The man was full of spirits, I could tell. I was tired from the road and in a funk, sick of wine and, well, I thought that I might drink his words and by his breath get drunk. “See?” he said, “aContinue reading “The Tavern Guitar”
X-Ray Vision
David was nearsighted. At the age of twelve he received his first pair of glasses. He carried them in a case in his backpack, and when the teacher wrote something on the chalkboard, he retrieved them discreetly and placed them on the bridge of his nose. If possible, while taking notes, he kept his leftContinue reading “X-Ray Vision”
David Hammond 