For all of you out there who sometimes need a song blasting on the way to work… Find “A Symptom Of Being Human” by Shinedown. I’ve listened to this song multiple times with a critical ear, trying to pinpoint what exactly this song embodies that provokes an emotional reaction in me. The closest I can come Is that it invokes a nostalgic feeling without being tied to a specific time period. It’s a song about mental health and having empathy for every human soul who crosses your path. Even toxic bastards, managers, baseball fans, and registered voters. It’s Thursday which means you’ve made the mistake of delineating your days as if one has more importance than any other.
Am I the only person who has infrequent yet regular interactions with someone simply to pretend to be annoyed? A few weeks ago, a man in a blue sedan was going at least twice the speed limit down the hill toward the Scull Creek bridge. I had more than enough time to cross the street, so I did. The man in the car stopped very quickly considering the speed he was going. He backed up a little and put his window down. I will call him Chad. I calculate there is a 1 in 74 chance that is his actual name.
“Hey, you need to be more careful,” he hollered at me.
“I’m not sure that caution will help me with low flying blue aircraft like the one you are piloting.”
He couldn’t help himself. The irritation disappeared from his face. “Fair enough. You should use the crosswalk.”
“And you should watch for low power lines,” I fired back at him. Both of us were smiling at this point. He waved, put his window up, and sped away.
A couple of weeks ago, he saw me standing by the bridge. He slowed down and put down his passenger window.
“Still running your insurance scam?”
I laughed. “Yes, because your mom says I don’t make enough at my job to support us both.”
He laughed, waved, and drove away.
Today, I saw him coming from the other direction for once. He put down his window as he slowed. There was a car behind him.
“Mom asked me to tell you to bring home a loaf of bread on the way,” he said, obviously remembering my last joke.
Because of the car behind him, I didn’t want to hold him up so I gave him two thumbs up and laughed. He laughed too, as he drove away.
When we are firing back and forth at each other with commentary, it feels exactly like a hidden camera sitcom.
The interactions make me feel literal joy. Maybe because it all started with a flash of irritation. But now I’m on the hook for clever comebacks. I guess I’ll ask his mom while she is cooking us dinner tonight.
I got up before the storm started early this morning. The erratic lightning caused some of my solar light bottles to flicker like fireflies accidentally using Morse code. But it was my newest acrylic solar light vase that caught my eye. The couple of hundred fairy lights permanently embedded in the hardened acrylic shone like maniscule stars. Trying to capture the colors in a photo appeared fruitless. That’s okay. It’s like trying to describe a moment of beauty to someone who didn’t witness it. X .
One of two surprises given to me for taking care of a sweet dog and cat a couple of weeks ago. The other one I will hold in reserve for a bit of shenanigans. In two weeks when it stops raining, perhaps this one will reveal its polychromatic sunlit spectacle.
My most complicated solar light so far. Because I used five layers of acrylic, it weighs 12.2 lbs. and required several hours to finish. I filled each layer with jewelry, keepsakes, and interesting things. It’s quite beautiful. During the hardening process, one of the layers reached 218°. I wasn’t sure if the vase would withstand the heat of the curing process. Had it ruptured, I would have broken the glass off and the result would have been different. Still beautiful. Just different.
P.S. Parenthetically Speaking 