Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Put on Notice

I am a little near sighted. I wear glasses to drive. It doesn't mean much more than that. I have to take my glasses off to read, eat, or deal with anything close up. I can hold a piece of coconut shell up and see the tiniest lines, cracks, and patterns. I think it makes me a better artist.

It also means I notice things...random things, little things. This blog will be a near sighted writer's perspective on the world. I intend to make you see things in new ways and experience the world in all its tiny majesty and wonder. Yes, I may occasionally mention large scale things of note. I wear glasses after all and can see into the distance just fine with augmentation.

Today's World Notice is grain. Not those chunks in your sandwich bread or what your doctor told you to eat more of whole. I'm talking wood people. Next time you sit down at your kitchen table, sit in your passed down rocking chair, or find yourself in a job interview across from an intimidating woman in a pinstripe suit sitting at some ancient desk...look at the grain.

That is life etched into the surface of that chunk of lumber. Years of growth as minerals and water were pulled from the earth. It is dry seasons and wet seasons, fire, wind, the migration of birds, the relentless movement of the sun. Run your hand across it. Feel the minute ridges and grooves. Feel the warmth of the wood, the smooth gloss from polish and use. It is more than just a pretty stain. The grain of the wood is there to remind us that time marches on. Time leaves its marks.

We can see the ridges and lines on our exterior surface as we age, but we cannot see the marks left within ourselves. As time flows away into the past behind us, marks are left inside each one of us. My soul is lined and knotted with my past mistakes, golden with my triumphs. Oh, what a pretty desk I would make...

5 comments:

Michelle said...

Unless it's made out of PDF :). JK I likey this Charlie.

Lisa said...

ok. now i feel guilty for painting over that grain on a hand-me-down dining room table :) I second Michelle, likey!

Annie said...

Hi, Charlie. Good to see you Blogging.

Unknown said...

Stop looking at my soul..... i see you eyeing your woodworking tools.

I can see the opening chapter. The master crafter laboring over a desk.. the internal monologe... the wandering the streets of some fantasy city looking for the purfict soul to finsh his latest creation.... sicko.

Charlie Pulsipher said...

I believe Michelle meant MDF not PDF. Too much computer on the brain for you my little sis. Mark, you are disturbed, but that would make a neat short story. You should write it.

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