Give the people what they want

For the fourth year in a row, we have had August weather in July here in Memphis. However, exactly where the current weather came from, I have no idea. I had a ride last night from Oklahoma City and they are not having near as nice a summer as we are. They said it was 114 degrees recently- it's almost like God just likes Memphis and decided that not only should we have a beautiful springtime but a wonderful August as well. It is a high of 84 today- last night, I wore a sweatshirt after about 10 pm- a sweatshirt in the middle of August!! Crazy, but in stating what things are like, I want the Universe to know, I am not complaining! Lots of Elvis Week people still in town, beautiful weather- I must say, I am quite happy. Got to spend some time with friends last night- it's funny how you can work with somebody on the street for years and not get to really spend time with them. Unless, of course, it's wintertime. Then, there is all the time in the world to shoot the breeze, talk about other carriage drivers (gasp!) and lament the cold. But talking with friends while out on the carriage line is a slippery slope as it can be addictive; one of the first things I learned on the carriage was how to maintain my personal space. Regular folks wanting to chat is one thing, an unwelcome carriage driver hanging around your carriage is detrimental to sales and one's mentality. With a little tact, some force of will and a smile, I have effectively learned how to be on the carriage by myself and to be unfettered by other drivers. Most drivers, I don't mind being fettered by (I thought I was making up a word and just being cute, but fettered is actually a word!) but there is the occasional person who wants to talk and talk and talk. That's what after work is for- just cause I don't look like I'm doing anything in the carriage seat doesn't mean I'm not working. I am guilty of reading while working, but that's an addiction I am happy to be fettered to. Started Black Spring by Henry Miller recently and am rather enjoying Notes From Underground by Dostoevsky, who I haven't read much by except for three fourths of Brothers Karamozov. Well, I can linger in front of the computer no longer, I must go and give the people what they want. :)


...This! This expanding moment, which has not defined itself in ticks or beats, this eternal moment which destroys all values, degrees, differences. This gushing upward and outward from a hidden source. No truths to utter, no wisdom that can be imparted. A gush and a babble, a squeaking to all men at once, everywhere, and in all languages. Now is the thinnest veil between madness and sanity. Now is everything so simple that it mocks one. From this peak of drunkenness one rolls down into the plateau of good health where one reads Vergil, Dante and Montaigne and all the others who spoke only of the moment, the expanding moment, that is heard forever...

- Henry Miller, Black Spring 1936