John Simmons: Window Writing, Chicago (1969)

Odds Might Not Matter
At times in my past, I still believed that I might get away with something. I suspected that I was only fooling myself but still engaged as if I might be wrong, that my life might be crafted for a song without hard labor, without undue or undeserved suffering. I found no convenient backdoor to anything, though, because stuff just happens. I'm uncertain if I believe in karma, for I've seen too many innocents visited with undeserved curses. I prefer to believe in a benevolent God, though I suspect she's at best indifferent. I can't not care deeply, though, often more for others than for myself. After almost a lifetime of surprises, I've practically lost the need to succeed. I do not expect my predictions to come true. I don't buy lottery tickets, either. I write for reasons other than pleasing anyone, often even myself. I might write to let an indifferent God know I was here, producing against insurmountable odds. The odds might not matter if I play to achieve something other than winning something. This is, after all, the letting go season.

Weekly Writing Summary

I began my writing week with a LapCat in my lap. "I rarely fail to find fresh inspiration when I sit captive to that kitten's preference. I prefer submitting to his choice and sincerely miss his presence when urgent business takes him elsewhere some mornings."

Inagaki Tomoo: Seated Cat (Shōwa period, 1926-1989)
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of C. Adrian Rübel

" … get on with my morning. "
—
The Muse sat next to a stranger, the nephew of her childhood bus driver, two thousand miles away from where she rode. She declared this occurrence unlikely, yet it happened. I called this Prabability in action. THis story proved the most popular this period. " … we are the product of many unlikelies, yet here we stand!"

George Baxter: I Don't Like It! (19th century)
—
I admitted to possessing a unique gift, just like everyone else. Mine involves a light and sound
Insensibility. "I know what Hell consists of because I survived a night there once, cowering in the far back corner of a little aviation museum, hands over my ears and eyes tightly closed, praying for deliverance that never came."

Designed and executed by Florence Elizabeth Marvin:
Crazy Quilt with Animals (1886)

" … praying for deliverance."
—
I wrote of shutting down the summer garden in preparation for the first Autumn freeze in ButtoningDown "Sometimes, the garden tends the gardener."

Ann Nooney: Closing time (1937-1942)

"I wonder if he'll ever discover the secret."
—
I watched The Muse's campaign and my campaiging coming to an ending, leaving only EmptyAir. "We live to pursue, like hunter/gatherers. Catching the game was only a premise permitting us to chase."

Camille Pissarro:
Woman Emptying a Wheelbarrow (1880)

"The hunter dreams of tomorrow's hunt …"
—
I ended this writing week in a tiny tiny town's bar and grill called TheTux, watching The Muse work a big room. "So much of candidacy amounts to performance, and while that’s essential, very little of that really matters. The tiny moments in tiny rooms might make all the difference …"

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec:
Bar of the Café of the rue de Rome (c. 1886)

"The tiny moments in tiny rooms might make all the difference."

This writing week centered around winding down. We humans seem more easily wound up than wound down, for winding down feels like we're losing something—if only enthusiasm. The passion with which I enter Spring or Summer does not accompany me into Autumn, and the diminishment deepens when I'm ButtoningUp or battening down hatches. My LapCat helps. Good things happen regardless of their likelihood. We each carry our own gifts that others might consider unfortunate. It might be best if we can appreciate them instead. Endings tend to leave behind EmptyAir. We're each working big rooms, especially when confined to tiny places like TheTux. Thank you so much for following along this week! (I realize that I'm one story short this week. Campaign commitments prevented me from meeting my usual deadline last Friday. I guess this result will have to be GoodNuff!)

©2023 by David A. Schmaltz - all rights reserved

Tags: #GoodNuff, #PureSchmaltz