Stand Back

The hibiscus on my porch is a beautiful plant. Dark green leaves and compact habit, if that's the term. Means it grows in a dense and uniform shape. It is a bit unusual if blooming in two different colors is unusual for a hibiscus. I don't mean the blooms are bi-colored. Some of them are red and some of them are, well.... the color of the tassels on my uncle Floyd's huaraches if that helps.

It wasn't the colors of the flowers but the sheer number of them that struck me with one of those life lessons that do sometimes trip you up when you're not looking. The thing is blooming with the exuberance of a house on fire. Happens every year about this time. Not just the hibiscus on the porch but all the flowering plants in the gardens, in the fields, and along the tree lines from Chatsford Hall to Blowing Rock.

The reason for all the showy decadence is that the End is Near. That's right. Just look around you and you'll see that we/re up to our necks in Autumn. Ms Wonder calls it the season of mists and fruitful mellowness. I'm not sure why but thought I'd better mention it in case it means something to you.

Autumn brings the end of the growing season and the end of the blooming one as well. Every flowering plant knows that the gig is up. Playtime is over. Time to get serious about enriching those seeds so that someone or something is around in the springtime to remember summers past.

It's the same with the Genome. When I turn off the movies that play in my mind, I realize that not only has the autumn of the year arrived, but so has the Autumn of my Years. If I'm going to leave something behind to remind people of the summers spent with me, then I'd best get blooming, and not just a blossom here and there but a great profusion of blossoms, and I need to do it with the exuberance of a Bulldog puppy.

I'm fortunate to have robust health far in excess of what I deserve, considering my youthful revels. In addition, I'm blessed with an out-of-control amygdala, my own Princess Amy, who, taking a line through the Red Queen, exhorts me to accomplish more and more with her cry of, "Run faster!"

Years ago when apprenticed to Wen the Eternally Surprised--stop me if you've heard this one--I was sweeping the steps of the dojo and he, staring pensively into the western sky, said to me, "Sweeper..." (We didn't use reals names in the dojo.)

"Sweeper," he said, "it's a wide, wild, windy world we're riding through and we have to keep moving forward or the clouds will swallow us up and summers past will be like tear drops in the rain."

I'm happy to say that I've found my purpose. I only found it last Thursday at Carolina Beach when a huge wave came up from the deep--out of the blue as it were, and knocked me down and then rolled me around the sandy bottom for a while. And after the initial feeling that I was drowning and would die in about 5 seconds, I laughed at the thought that the sea had given me a pat on the back and "Attaboy!" When I stepped back onto the dry sand, I knew my purpose and I'm now prepared for that showy finale. Watch me bloom! Fierce Qigong!

To the Moon and Back

"You seem a little depressed this afternoon," said a voice from somewhere on the screened porch.

I had abandoned the attempt to tidy-up a travel piece I'd written for Carolina Roads Magazine and I'd gone downstairs to raid the fridge. I was looking for a turmeric-ginger kombucha when I heard those words. 

From where I stood, I couldn't see the owner of that musical voice, but I knew it belonged to the wonder-worker that I sometimes call, Poopsie, but who's formally known as Ms Wonder.

I remember thinking that she couldn't possibly see me from where she sat behind the fishnets and so I wondered how she'd guessed my mood. "What makes you say that?" I asked. 

"I can tell by the sound of your footsteps," she said.

I marveled at hearing this. Could she really know my day was in the recycle bin by the way I walked? Or was this one of those stage tricks done with mirrors? 

This mystery, if I can call it that, made me think of my Great-aunt, Arvazine, but for heaven's sake, let's not get into that now. It's a story for another day, and it's a story you don't want to miss so pay close attention to future posts.

"Low spirited?" she said.

I did a quick check-in with self to see if she was getting warm and found, to my surprise, that she was. And not merely warm but hot! I was low spirited! Damn, she's good! I wonder if she's ever considered a career on the stage?

I carried my glass of tissue restorer onto the porch where Wonder sat holding Olivia, who isn't a real octopus, of course. Once in her sight, the curtain raised on my own stage act and I went into my performance.

"One of these days, Alice!" I said making a fist and pushing it skyward. "One of these days, Pow! To the moon, Alice, to the moon!"

"That bad?" she said.

I considered the question. "Oh, I don't know," I said. "About average, I'd call it. Nothing on the level of wheat fields and profane love."

"I'm sorry," she said, "you've lost me. What do I know of wheat fields and profane love?"

"Ah, yes, there is that," I said. "Let me put it another way. Except for the names and a few other changes, my story's the same one."

There passed a few moments of silence while she directed a look my way that left me with that feeling you get when you're standing in the surf and the waves pull the sand from under your heels. 

"You dream of being a king?" she said at last.

"No, not that story," I said. "The story I refer to is the one that goes, Pow! To the moon, Alice. That story."

"Alice in Wonderland?" she said.

"The Honeymooners," I said.

She shook her head the way she does sometimes after swimming. "I'm afraid I haven't had that pleasure. You confuse me."

"Did you say, You complete me?"

"Confuse me," she said. 

"Ah!" I said with a nod.

I realize as I write this that you too may not be familiar with the reference. Don't feel bad. You aren't expected to recognize everything. Your head is full of other stuff. 

The Honeymooners is something with no meaning for you because you weren't born in that period of television history. And I didn't really expect you to make the connection between wheat fields and profane love. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that you think profane love refers to phone sex. 

Don't let it bother you. I'm just happy that you found me. I enjoy your company. In fact, in many ways, you complete me. And I'm happy to know that you helped make Coastal Camelot the all-time favorite post on this blog. I enjoy that one too. 

If you haven't read it yet, you should do so now. You can come back to this post later. Find it in the Favorites column on the right-hand side of this webpage. 

Now back to the regularly scheduled...

"You know the story, Wonder," I said. "It's the old one about  the spoiled princess and  the occasions that repeatedly bring one damned thing after another. Those occasions always stir up thoughts of, Pow! To the moon, Alice!"

"Of course it isn't really Alice in those day-to-day circumstances," I said. "It's the guy who ran me off the road as he checked his text messages. Or the person next to me who thought he had to yell into his mobile phone to be heard all the way to Greensboro."

"And so," I said, "except for the names and a few other changes, the story is still Pow! To the moon!"

She was giving me a different look now. It included what may have been the hint of a smile creasing the corners. 

"You wear it well," she said.

"Thank you, Poopsie. I had a good teacher."

"I'm guessing that teacher would be Life, the Universe, and Everything," she said.

"That's right."

"Served you well, has it?" she said.

It was becoming a big day for exchanging looks. I gave her one now that consisted of a little smile and a couple of raised eyebrows. Looks say so much, don't you agree?

"Then keep on that path until your ribs squeak, is my advice," she said.

I laughed. She was quoting my stuff back to me and it suited her well I thought.

"You complete me, Wonder," I said.

"I know," she said.

So there you have it. Wonder completes me and, in your own quiet way, you complete me too. It feels good.

Last Fling of Summer

"The creature of the lake is proving to be one heckofa challenging assignment," I said to Ms Wonder as we prepared for a new Thursday morning.

"Creature?" she said. "You mean lake monster?"

"It's a monster no longer," I said. "Lupe objected to calling it that. Her argument and I think it's a good one, is that we know so little about it that calling it a monster may give the public a prejudiced point of view."

"Ah," she said with a nod of the head, "and as we know too well, the public is already prejudiced to the tonsils."

"Rem acu tetigisti," I said and I felt pretty good about it too. I don't know what it means, perhaps you do, but I see it in all the best books.

"By the way," she said, "I'm curious. What do we know about this lake creature?"

"Creature of the Lake," I said.

"Whatever," she said. "What do we know for sure."

"No more than scientists know about the number of galaxies in the Milky Way," I said. "We know only that it's mathematically proven."

"What mathematically proven?" she said.

"Well, you remember that Lupe is one of those delinquent whizzes in math and she's developed the formula that proves the creature has to be there."

"You meant to say, juvenile, not delinquent," she said.

"Did I?" I said. "She's a juvenile who's not delinquent in math then."

She looked at her hands--I don't know why--and shook her head. She is prone to headaches so maybe she felt one coming on.

"I'm going to have to doubt that Lupe proved the existence of a lake monster with a mathematical formula."

"But it's true," I said. "It was her special project at the School of Science and Math in Durham. She took into consideration all sorts of stuff, like water temperature, the average depth of the lake, food supply, and stuff like that. I think the nuclear power plant figured heavily into the equation."

"I'll bet it did," she said.

"I have a copy of the equation somewhere," I said. "Was planning to use it in my article when we get a photo of the creature."

"You're going to photograph it?" she said.

"Yes," I said. "That's why I spend so much time at the lake. But we don't want people to know which lake. We don't want anyone messing about on the water and causing the creature a lot of anxiety and whatnot. Lupe thinks the creature may be a mother taking care of her young."

"Mathematically proven, of course," said the Wonder. Then she added in a thoughtful way, "A lake full of radioactive, mutant monsters."

"Yeah, creatures," I said. "Exciting hunh?"

"So how're you going to get a photo if you've spent all summer out there and haven't seen it yet?"

"Ah, that's my latest inspiration," I said. "When Lupe demanded that we not cause the creature unnecessary stress, it made me think of Happy Cats Wellness."

"I don't follow," she said.

"On our website, we teach people how they can enrich the lives of their cats to keep them curious, engaged, and happy."

"Yes?" she said.

"One of those suggestions is that the cat must get plenty of hunting play, right? Playing games that mimic hunting--something the cat is driven to do anyway."

"Wait a second," she said. "You're not telling me that you plan to coax this creature into hunting mode so that you can get a photo?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you," I said. "Cats need to hunt because they've been conditioned through the millennia to stalk, pounce, kill and devour prey. I'm betting the creature is the same."

"One way to improve the lives  of cats is to dangle a feather on a string in front of them to get them to stalk and pounce."

"Please tell me," she said, "that you don't plan to use a fishing rod to cast bait into the lair and tempt a monster to attack. With you at the other end of the fishing pole and probably up to your waist in the lake?"

"Ms. Wonder," I said. "do give me some credit. Of course, I won't do something that silly. No, I've a much better way and it's absolutely certain to work. And it's a creature, not a monster."

"Do tell," she said.

"I have the perfect spot in mind where I will draw her out of hiding with hunting play, but not by dangling a feather."

"Although you admit that you know nothing about this creature," she said.

"I don't have to know anything," I said. "My plan requires no information other than knowing of something that no creature can ignore."

"You're going to have a mutant, radioactive monster chase a red dot across the surface of the lake?"

"Yes, I know, it's genius, isn't it?" I said and I felt pretty good about it too.

Casa Blanca

"How was your morning at Ocean Isle?" asked Ms. Wonder when I walked in the door.

"Do you have a minute?" I said. "What I have to say may shock you."

"I doubt that I'll be shaken and I bet you hold me spellbound," she said.

"Alright, if you insist. The whole thing began as I sat brooding at a table outside Casa Blanca Cafe. It wasn't my normal brood. It was a deeper, more focused angst brought on by your insistence that I interview mental health therapists today."

"It's for your own good," she said. 

"I'd finished two double espressos and the mood hadn't budged. Even my new beret didn't help.  Don't misunderstand, the beret lifted my spirits far above the level of no beret, but I had my heart set on one of those red jobs the French revolutionaries wore to signify their disapproval of the status quo."

She nodded in a meaningful and supportive way as if to say that she understood my disappointment but that she was going to ignore the reference to the French imbroglio.

"I gradually became aware of a commotion taking place in the alley behind the cafe," I said, "and I decided to investigate. But when I got to the alley, all was strangely quiet."

"I walked on and eventually made my way to the Memorial Dunes, with a thought to honoring the memory of our Once and Future Tribe--the cats who wait for us at the Rainbow Bridge."

"That's new terminology," she said, "the Once and Future Tribe, but tell me about that later. What happened next?"

"Well, for some reason, I thought of the black-and-white feral cat that I used to see below the footbridge in Briar Creek in Durham."

"What made you think of him?"

"It had something to do with the arrival of Princess Amy."

"Of course, Amy", she said. "Don't tell me, let me guess. Did she come speeding down the beach in her panel truck?"

"Oh she did make another of her dramatic entrances but not in her signature truck wreck. This time she washed up in the surf and began flopping around like a confused mackerel. I don't know why. Perhaps just a way of getting my attention."

"You don't see that every day," said The Wonder.

"That's what I said."

"Then what?"

"I complimented her on her entry, thinking that it might soften her attitude."

"Good thinking. Did it work?"

"It seemed to work because instead of yelling something at me like, Run for your life, she simply thanked me and said that she felt better for it."

"Excellent."

"But then she started messing with my head." 

"Listen up!", she said. "You've been chosen as the dark minion for a special job."

"Dark minion!" said the Wonder. "That is interesting. Tell me more."

"I couldn't think what she might be talking about. I'd never heard this dark minion stuff from her before, and so I could only say, I have?"

"Yes, but not the minion of revolution and reconstruction that you were hoping for," she said. You're the chosen agent of redirection, disruption, and subterfuge. 

"Those were her exact words?" said Wonder. "Were you hoping to be the minion of revolution and whatever she said?"

"I didn't know I'd ever said it out loud," I said.

"Then what happened?"

"She said it was time for me to get to work. She said I should pay close attention to anything she tells me.

"Don't ask why," she said. "Just do what I tell you and everything will be fine."

"Right," said Wonder, "like that's going to happen."

"Then when I started asking her, What if..., she interrupted to say that I should let her worry about that."

"And when I asked, Yes, but what about..."

"I'll take care of it, she said."

"I stared at her in silence not knowing what to say next but then she said, Well? as though she expected me to agree to her terms."

"But then, Poopsie, my mind suddenly became clear and my heart swelled. It may have had something to do with the recent memorial to our Tribe. But wherever the resolve originated, I decided that today would be the first day of a new life. I would begin that better life that I've wrestled with for the last several months."

"Here's what I'm going to do, Princess, I said to Amy. I'm going to run for my life. It's just the thing you've often advised it."

"What?" she said in an incredulous tone leading me to believe that my words had struck a cord."

"That's right, old girl. You've often urged me to do it and from now on, I'm going to run and when I run, you're going to run with me."

"No, absolutely not, you can't do any running today, she said. "You'll run when I tell you."

"I'm running, I told her, and I'm going to get aerobic."

"No, no, no! she said. Running raises the endorphins and that's not allowed.

"Oh, but I'll feel better and so will you and that means you won't be in control."

"Don't do it, she demanded."

"Here we go, I said, and with those words, I began an easy jog. Five minutes later, Amy was resting peacefully."

 

"I continued to jog, and eventually, we were strolling arm in arm. Poopsie, I believe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

"Who would have imagined it," said the Wonder, "you and Amy arm in arm. Just the way it happens in the movies."

 

The Toby Reaction

"You had a reaction to the vaccination?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you," I said.

"Was it serious?" he said.

"Was it serious! Let me tell you how serious it was and still is," I said.

"Do tell," he said, "I'll bet you hold me spellbound."

"OK, then," I said. "It had been that kind of day when everything's not what it should be--your head's not making sense and you feel like you're not where you're supposed to be. You know the kind of day I mean?"

"No," he said.

"What?" I said.

"Don't drivel. I have an appointment and don't have time for the color comments. Just the facts please."

"Well, if that's the way you want it." I said. "But it'll be far less interesting without the supernatural elements. Pay close attention because I'll move quickly through the salient points."

"Not quickly enough," he said. I thought it set a tone low on my list of preferred tones but, after considering this and that, I decided to give it a pass.

"After the vaccination," I said, "I walked through the hardware store toward the exit and you'll never guess what I saw."

"You got a vaccination in a hardware store? Are you sure you're OK? Have you been out in the sun recently?"

I held up a hand to indicate that I'd take no more interruptions. It did little good--we were on the phone. "Mumps," I said. Not his name, of course, but that's what I've called him for so long I've forgotten his real name. "I am perfectly fine," I said, "so put a sock in it and let me finish this story."

"Fine," he said but he didn't say it with any real chirpiness.

"As I said, I walked out of the room and the first thing that caught my eye was a gnome."

He held up a hand and shook his head. At least I assumed he did because the gesture is something I'd expect from him. 

"Just as I thought, Genome, you've been out in the sun and without a hat."

"I told you the kind of day it was," I said. "Surely you can guess how stressful my drive into Durham had been if you paid to what I told you in the first place.

"This is what comes of too much pills and liquor," he said.

"At any rate, there it was."

"A gnome?"

"Yes, a gnome, and in fact, there were two of them left from what was once a three-gnome garden set."

"You're talking about a yard gnome," he said.

"What did you think?" I said.

"Never mind," he said, "go on."

"So I bought Toby. I named him Toby; I don't know why--just a whim, I guess--and brought him home, but Ms. Wonder disapproved of him. She said I should put him outside in the garden.  Well, she'd made her wishes clear, so I put him in the front garden underneath a mushroom. I thought he'd like that."

"I'm lost," Mumps said. "I don't know why we're talking about this."

"I'll tell you why," I said. "Because he was so unhappy with being left outdoors that he ran away and now he's traveling across the country running up charges on my credit card."

"And your reaction to the vaccination was buying a garden gnome?"

"Well, a normal person doesn't have these experiences," I said.

He nodded but it did little good because we were still on the phone.