Night Shift

full service gas station, service station
Credit: http://www.champlinsinclair.com/

I like working nights, especially here at the service station.  At least in the summer.  In summer the nights are cool and calm, the work is steady but slow.  On day shift the attendants have to help the mechanic with light-duty stuff like plugging tires and changing oil; things they can do between customers on the drive.

At night we rarely have those things to do.  We clean, mostly.  We wait with anticipation for the ding-ding of the driveway bell, calling us to action.  Then we put on a cheery smile and trot out to the car on the drive, “Good evening, how may I help you?” Continue reading “Night Shift”

A Rainy Day in the Mountains

Tis a rainy day here in the mountains, but that’s a good thing because it’s month end and I have much to do.  So I thought I’d start this rainy day indoors with a little creative procrastination.  (shrug)

If your browser won’t play the video, [View it on Flickr]

I hope you enjoyed this brief diversion.  Have a Happy Wednesday!

Ant Apocalypse

Today I was moving a lumber stack.  Moving from an informal stack of old barn wood.  Very untidy.  Not at all like my stacks of furniture grade lumber.

ant runningI was working steadily and pulled up a board to find, laying in the gap between two boards below the one I had in my hands, a fair sized copper head.  I tossed the board I held aside and looked around for weaponry.  Fortunately it was quite early in the morning; cool, and the snake had not yet had its coffee.  I dispatched it easily and with little fuss.  Had it been later in the morning, things might not have gone so well.

After what seemed like eight hours of pulling sodden boards out of the pile, sweeping off the fungus and mildew and beetle larvae, then carrying the boards to the other end of the lumber yard, around a tree and up a hill to the new stack (although in reality it was probably only an hour and a half) I encountered another snake.

A King Snake this time.  Just a small one.  It had crawled in to feed on an enormous ant colony that had set up housekeeping between the layers of this lumber stack.

Continue reading “Ant Apocalypse”

Black Box Blues

Just as we emerged from the gateway two indicators came to life on our ­car’s console. The green light indicated that this cluster’s nav data had been ­picked up and stored in memory. The red one, that a piece of the car’s ­micronics had fizzled out of existence. Something profane immediately came to ­mind, but since the kids were on board, I kept the thought to myself.

“Something wrong, dear?” Rhiannah, my wife, sat in the front seat­ opposite mine.

“I’m checking it out.”

I typed a command on the keyboard and the computer ran a diagnostic check ­on all the car’s circuits. A moment later the results of the check-up scrolled­ down the console’s video screen. It displayed the part number of the ­defective module, what circuit it was in and on what board that circuit would­ be found. It also displayed a disheartening message:

THIS IS AN ESSENTIAL CIRCUIT IMMEDIATE REPAIR IS MANDATORY.

This time the profanity slipped out. Continue reading “Black Box Blues”

Demon Among Us

By: Allan Douglas – Copyright 05/03/88

angel demon poetryWho is he;
angel of salvation,
or angel of death?
He’s spent his whole life
as defender of the defenseless,
champion of the downtrodden,
crusader against injustice.

He is revered by his subjects.
They cheer when he rides by.
And yet, when he is alone,
separated and isolated by the walls of his room,
it is he who becomes the Dark Lord.
He is the demon from whom he has defended them for so long. Continue reading “Demon Among Us”

Lost in the Fog

At no point in my life have I ever thought of myself as a poet.  Most days I could not write poetry to save my life.  But once in a while – when in a highly charged emotional state – something that resembles poetry drips from the point of my pencil.  None of this has ever been published – or even submitted anywhere – but I thought I’d toss out a few pieces and see if they float.  This one could be considered the flip side of the coin for Walls.

Lost in the Fog

fog, foggy, depression,
Photo by Allan Douglas

Depression is a fog;
A thick grey blanket that steals in.
A few wisps at first
That wrap around your feet unnoticed.
Then rise higher, thicker
Until you are enveloped, trapped, lost.
You find you are alone,
You know not the way back home.
You have no direction;
All paths are swallowed by the mist.
You are lost!

You need another.
Someone on the right path with a light,
Providing direction.
You move toward the light hopefully
And find a savior.
Who guides you out of the low lands
Where wood is sodden.
On the high ground mists are thin
And firewood dry.
Build a bright, blazing campfire
And drive away the fog.

Keep your fire stoked.
Gather crisp branches and add their worth.
Fire dispels the fog.
The heat drives back the chilling mists
Warming your bones
And bringing joy to your soul again.
Keep your fire stoked,
Allow it to serve as a light for others
Who have lost their way.
Watch for travelers, trapped in the fog,
And repay your debt.

 More on this topic:

  • The Silent Killer by Holly Moncreiff
  • Fighting Clinical Depression published by HealthMad.
  • A Sure Formula for Happiness published by HealthMad.

Walls

At no point in my life have I ever thought of myself as a poet.  Most days I could not write poetry to save my life.  But once in a while – when in a highly charged emotional state – something that resembles poetry drips from the point of my pencil.  None of this has ever been published – or even submitted anywhere – but I thought I’d toss out a piece or two and see if it floats.

WALLS

walls, poetry, mental health

Oh, how I hate the walls.
Entraping, confining, restricting.
I’ve wandered through their labyrinthic confines all my life,
And never known happiness.
Except once.
For one fleeting moment, a spark of freedom broke in
Like a ray of sunlight in the darkness.
I held it to my breast, kissed it and cherished it.
My heart rejoiced with the feel of it.
And I was whole.
Then it was gone.
Shut out by the seething black-heartedness of those walls,
Sealing out even that one moment of happiness.
In rage, I launched against the walls.
I flailed the walls with my fists until they were torn and bruised.
The stones mocked me with their bloodied stains.
They thrived on my misery.
I withdrew.
Closing in upon myself until there was nothing but myself.
And in my own private world,
I began to plot against them.
How I would cheat them.
I would steal from them their very source of nourishment.
In death I would exit this hall of pain.
As I sunk happily into the dark abyss,
Self-amused with the joke,
My spirit suddenly cried out in anguish.
For I found that death is but a door
Leading to more walls!

 

New Eden

Eden
Image via Potters Hand Apostolic Mission

I burst through the door, waving a pair of transport tickets, “I got them Jilli, I got them!”

Jillian sat at the table reading, a cup of tea at her elbow. She looked at me quizzically, then her shoulders drooped. It was not the reaction I expected. “Oh, Nickoli, you didn’t.”

“Yes, yes I did!  It took every credit I had – and some pleading – but we have tickets to New Eden.  The transport leaves Thursday.”

“Nikki, I really didn’t think you were serious about that.  Just another of your crazy dreams.”

That hurt.  She saw it too.  She got up out of her chair and came around the table to put a hand on each shoulder. “I’m sorry, Nikki, that didn’t come out right. It’s just that you have so many dreams, and so many of them are just…impractical.”

The exuberance I’d felt just moments before drained away leaving me feeling like an empty sink. “Just because I want…something better than this?” Continue reading “New Eden”

Gray Morn

The day breaks soft and gray outside the window.  Trees fade into obscurity within short distance.  What passes for a sky, a pewter bowl; featureless and unbroken, just above treetops.  The air, pregnant with moisture, will soon give birth to a misty rain.

A fitting analogy for life: the past fades into the mists of time, the future uncertain beyond a few scrawling’s on a calendar.  Only the right now, right here is clear.

The view can be soothing and beautiful or depressing, depending on your bend. But while gazing upon the surreal visage, bear in mind that above it all the sun shines bright and warm; hidden for a time, but not lost.

A Little Creative Writing: The Daily Tromp

The old man struggles at the slow end of the leash as his 80 pound bulldog, Cochise, strains like a John Deere at the other; dragging them both up the steep, winding mountain path.

Daily Tromp 8822The path was once a crude dirt road; just a common access for owners of property on the undeveloped, upper portion of the mountain. For several years an occasional 4-wheel drive pick-up would trek up the mountain to release hunting dogs, cut firewood to haul home, or just enjoy a few hours sitting in the woods soaking up the solitude.  Then, for a while only ATVs went up there to rip and snort along the path and tear new trails through virgin woods.  The old man was glad when the kids lost interest in their new toys and stopped coming.  It had been a year or more since anyone went up the old road.  No maintenance had been done, not even the farmer who occasionally used his tractor to drag a scraper blade along to even out the humps and ruts and shear off the saplings. Now those saplings were crowding in from the shoulders and taking over again. Trees had fallen, shattering branches all over and heavy rains were forming huge ruts and runnels that made the road difficult for any vehicle to navigate faster than a creep.

Only he and Cochise – occasionally his wife and a foster dog would accompany them a short ways; just to where it got steep – were the only ones to go up there.  They manage to keep a path trampled down for a half mile or so up the main route and a few hundred feet along a branch road. Continue reading “A Little Creative Writing: The Daily Tromp”