I knew this guy named Jack who created a secret garden.
Dude described it as being a slice of paradise he built with another so they could have their own refuge from an imperfect world.
He said what he liked best about it was that most people wouldn’t recognize how perfect it was and that they would mistake it for being just another place.
I said that made no sense to me and he smiled, “it is not supposed to be understood by you or anyone who hasn’t been in a certain situation.”
“Well Sweetcheeks, ah think dat is da most speshal thing ever done heard by these ears.”
He just smiled and though I tried to get more details he never did share anything else…until he did.
“That scoundrel counselor Lester Davids has been walking through my secret garden. I don’t know how the bastard found it, but I do hope he trips and breaks an ankle.”
I said that was a much kinder response than I would have expected.
“Well, I hope he splits his lip and looses a couple of teeth and maybe takes a hard knock on that big ass head.”
“There is the guy I know, I am surprised you didn’t want to throw his ass into a fire.”
Burn It All Down
I particularly like the word scoundrel but if I were the one to use it I would include reprobate too.
“You are a scoundrel, a reprobate and a worm. A crumb of the lowest order” and then I might toss in some quote from Wrath Of Khan.
To the last I grapple with thee. From hell’s heart I stab at thee. For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee.
Can’t say I would do it as well as Mr. Roarke, er, Ricardo Montalban but I would be game to try.
And then I would wrestle with which version to include as background music.
or
and of course I’d highlight some lyrics.
Narishkeit Meets Reality
So now that we have gotten some of the silliness out of the way it is back to serious talk.
I was asked if I was prepared to tear everything down and start over and I laughed because I have been there and done that.
Two years short of 50 and I have a life that looks nothing like I had planned for and expected.
Two years short of 50 and I can say I have had to restart and readjust multiple times so I am not frightened of tearing it all down, burning bridges and salting the earth because I know what that is like.
I don’t particularly like it or find it to be enjoyable, but I know a bit about all this and I can say I have figured out how to be like that damn phoenix.
That is the good news which is followed by the bad which suggests there is a good chance I am going to have work for a few more years than I want to.
Since I don’t mind working and like staying active it is not something that bothers me, but if I get any say in the matter I’ll figure out how to make working a choice and not a necessity.
And since we are being brutally honest, I kind of like the challenge of trying to figure it out.
I like setting a goal and figuring how to meet it, certainly can’t hurt.
Group Think
If things continue going along as they are I anticipate a time in the future when friends and family will ask what did I do when Trump tried to tear down and remake the nation.
I’ll push back and tell them all I didn’t let group think prevent me from crying out about issues and from trying to convince others to not allow ideology dictate their action or lack thereof.
If things go as I hope there will come a time when I look back at this post and wonder what the hell I was thinking because this will look like I overreacted.
But a few weeks into the summer of 2017 that hope looks faint and the storm clouds on the horizon make me think it is time buckle down.
Not to mention work hard to get the willfully blind to ask some hard questions of themselves and others.
I don’t need for them to tell me why they support a boor but why they support a man who is trying to destroy a free press.
I need for them to explain how they can give him carte blanche and not hold him accountable for anything.
Because though I know a few who are beginning to question him the overall silence is deafening.
That is of grave concern.
I go now to do s0me more unpacking, to try to get more organized and to pursue the perfect sweetness of the independence of solitude.
As my pal says, we have to work to earn the prize, it won’t be handed to us.
Rolling up my sleeves and getting a move on, I like the rewards that come with hard work.
See you around.
