Monday 8 December 2008

Meaningless


Last night the waves on the Hudson were tipped with white and the wind whistled a broken lullaby through the gap between window and sill. The uptown breeze on 8th was a downtown gale on 9th, obeying traffic regulations if not the laws of nature, while white plastic bags took to the air and grey seagulls took to the trees.

I like weather you can’t argue with. The true liberation of tyranny, all decisions made for you, nothing to do but comply. A day for eating soup, reading biographies and giving up on the search for meaning in things. A day for forsaking appearance in exchange for warmth, for wearing that hat that looks stupid on Oxford street but sensible on Broadway - or so I keep telling myself.

A day for staring only briefly at the Sarah Palin lookalike brushing the teeth of a cat in the window of a pet store, and for barely pausing before the festive tins of spam (?) in a deli on 14th. Like I said, a day when all that’s required is to put one foot in front of the other and hope they’re headed somewhere warm, a day for doing, not questioning. The best of days.

8 comments:

  1. wow, that is creepy

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  2. I know Claiwette means the Sarah Palin cat thing and not your post!

    That first paragraph belongs in a book. When are you going to write it? You're a joy to listen to and your wordsmithery(?) is a joy to read.

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  3. "...the wind whistled a broken lullaby" - I love that line. And yes, those really are the best kind of days. :)

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  4. This isn't food, is this?

    Your post is poetical and Orwellian. Do you know that in French we use the same word for the white tipping the waves and for the fact of following and complying, that is "moutons" ?

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  5. Great first paragraph! I alway know I'm on to a good book if the author can paint that picture in my mind with his words:-)
    We have a housing estate in town which a few decades ago, was referred to as Spam Valley, posh houses but all they could afford was a tin of spam to feed their families. Quite possible it has regained its name due to the recession:-(

    Watching that wifie cleaning the cat's teeth makes me think she is choking it at the same time.........dead moggie with sparkling white teeth:-S

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  6. Rainy days are the best of days because they make everything you do 'inside' more meaningful. The world is reduced, as in childhood. The inside is not used as a space to prepare for going outside, into an infinite world, it is the very limits of your kingdom, playground or palette. And, mostly, it's where the sofa, tea and toasted currant buns are.

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  7. Tom you are a dude :D
    and Zunzuncita you're pretty damn cool too!!

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