Monday, July 22, 2013

In the Air Tonight

John 3:19 "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light."  It wasn't talking about me.  I always sleep with a light on somewhere in the house.

And I was asleep.  I was until consciousness as quietly and gently as my cat follows my steps, entered and  chased away sleep.  I had no idea if it was night or day.  Through the slats of the Venetian blinds something shone faintly and coolly to my eyes, blinking as I inclined my head slightly from side to side whilst trying to decide if it was the sun or the moon.  It was night I decided as all around that light was darkness.

I could have closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep.  I did not.  I did not because there were many, many years where I had to do that.  I had to work the next day.  Not anymore.  Tonight I can get up and enjoy being alive.  It has been raining and the crickets roar has lulled.  It seems a perfect background to Phil Collins singing "In the Air Tonight."

Son number 2, that means second born because I have no other way to differentiate, is coming tomorrow.  Today now, just much later.  He loves stew - tomato based stew - and I'll start that and maybe I will play the piano and maybe I will write.  Also I will do some bad things.  I will make a pot of coffee and drink the whole pot.  I'll  listen to the crickets with one ear and Phil Collins with the other and smoke half a pack of cigarettes.  But tonight I'll feel  happy - deep down, pure joy to be alive.  And there is one thing I will not do.  That is the last part of John 3:19, "for their deeds were evil."  I won't do any of that.

18 comments:

ADRIAN said...

It sounds like my sort of day.
What are evil deeds?
I did ask a German lass if she would be interested in a carnal frolic but I suspect her English wasn't too good. C'est la vie or whatever that is in Allemande.

David Oliver said...

Evil deeds? Maybe you don't have them in Britain. Here they are the ones that give land to people who put up those huge advertising signs along a roadway. There are a few other evil deeds as well but that's what comes to mind immediately.

I don't have to ask what a carnal frolic is. I've had a few of those and put them in the same category with coffee and smokes only less dangerous to your health.

Hey, you could always learn German and no more *sigh* C'est la vie

The Crow said...

You could refer to him as Second Son.

David Oliver said...

Yes Martha, that would be good. I could also refer to them as eldest and youngest. Seems always after I publish these blogs I find things I think about changing and occasionally do make small changes. I'm never completely sure the change is better, like changing answers on a quiz...

A Beer for the Shower said...

This sounds a lot like my day as an unemployed writer. Wake up, write, drink a pot of coffee, hook up defibrillator to control erratic heart rate. After heart rate stabilizes, put on another pot of coffee.

David Oliver said...

So I've got the symptoms of an unemployed writer? Good grief! Does that mean I can get unemployment comp? And oh jeez, I'm bound not to be the only one. There goes the economy again.

Andrew Leon said...

Man, I wish coffee helped me at all.
I hate laying in bed trying to go to sleep, but, sometimes, when I'm awake in the night, usually because of the cat, I have no other choice.

Should Fish More said...

Enjoy the visit...I sleep the best when that uber-rare occurrence happens: all of my kids are under my roof. Once every couple years.

David Oliver said...

Apparently chemicals affect people very differently. Some people tell me a drink or two will calm them down, make them feel better, etc. It does absolutely nothing for me unless I get drunk. Then I'm a happy drunk but useless for anything constructive.

David Oliver said...

Now that they are not single anymore mine never spend the night. I sure miss that and now that you mention it, seems like I did always sleep well when they were here.

Maybe it was knowing I would need to get up and cook a big breakfast. :)

Andrew Leon said...

I've never even been tipsy. It makes my wife upset.

Should Fish More said...

Not sure what it is, but perhaps it's that I know they are all safe, and within my range of influence. The idea of protecting them is pretty funny, one of them is an ex-Ranger, with skills I can't imagine. But the thing is, when I do wake at night, my kids, and their whereabouts and safety are the things I think about.

Gorilla Bananas said...

Crickets and Phil Collins sounds like an interesting combination. I get the impression that hip people think Phil Collins' music is uncool. Or maybe it's just people who think they're hip.

David Oliver said...

I don't worry about mine unless I know they are traveling or having some difficulty in their lives. Maybe how we were raised by our parents has something to do with it. There were six of us so it would have been a pretty big job for my parents.

David Oliver said...

I suppose. Pop culture is a fickle little beasty. And one I'm going to spend precious little time petting.

rhymeswithplague said...

David, as the wanna-be English professor in the crowd, I must inform you that if you have two sons you should not refer to them as "eldest" and "youngest" but as "elder" and "younger" -- two things require the comparative (-er), three things require the superlative (-est). Or something like that.

You're welcome.

David Oliver said...

I've never been a heavy drinker except when I was in the army. My wife didn't like it when I drank either. Not sure why, maybe I wasn't nearly as funny or clever as I thought I was.

I almost never drink anything now. For 2-3 years I would always put a little TripleSec in orange juice because I liked the taste so much. I've stopped doing even that since I read an article that said any amount of alcohol is bad for you and I have too many bad habits already.

David Oliver said...

Mr. Brague, thank you for stopping by and your comment. If I ever knew about the comparative and superlative (which sound vaguely familiar), I had forgotten. Some things like this I should sometime talk to my younger son about who is an English professor. Actually, one time we did have a discussion about subject verb agreement and by the end of it, I wasn't sure about anything relating to grammar anymore.

The truth is, and I'm sure this is obvious, I'm not overly concerned with rules. I think it is far more important that the reader understands what the writer is saying. But even more importantly, that the reader is stimulated by the words. I believe this is why we have slang and rules change.

That said, knowledge is a good thing and I appreciate you passing this along to me. Likely I will use this knowledge and if not, at least I'll know I'm breaking a rule.

Oh and by the way, neither the Elder nor the Younger ever read my blogs which I am truly thankful for. :)

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