Sourdough
10-07-2008, 02:36 AM
The old man was reading and thoughtlessly petting the chocolate lab. Sensing that something was not right, he looked up to discover it dark outside, and realized the animals had not been fed.
As he threw the hood of the light parka up, his left hand grabbed the cheap flashlight and checking the light out the window. Two thoughts crashed forth at the same instant. One, that he just did things without thinking, reaching for the flashlight, testing it, upping the hood on the parka. He wondered if most of what he did day after day was automatic, had he made any decisions today? Yes, the decision to use 6 teaspoons of coffee and not the normal 7, and he remembered now that after a long pause, he had added 1/4 teaspoon for good luck. Surely that should count as thinking, and smiled as he almost said out loud, "a little change is OK, big change is hard on old men". While wondering if that was his thought, or had he read it, he decided it was a good thought.
And at that moment realized he had been aware that something was not right, either the flashlight was way too bright or everything outside had been painted. Disappointed that he could not solve the riddle, and opening the door he saw 2" of snow. Well that explains that, but he was still trying puzzle why his brain had failed him. And that shameful thing yesterday......Having to get help loading a 200 pound generator onto the flatbed, only last spring he had loaded it and off loaded it, by himself.
The animals fed, with no conscious thought of the feeding, only the unpleasant picture of his body slowly failing him, like that of the spawned-out salmon. As his mind played with the ugliness of that analogy, he opened the cabin door, the ugliness vanished, replaced with the slight smell of smoke from the wood stove, and the too dry heat that only comes from heating with wood.
Parka off, he tried to retrieve the ugly thought, but the safe, snug, warmth of the cabin seduced him, and the concept would not come forth. It was a dark and snowy night.
As he threw the hood of the light parka up, his left hand grabbed the cheap flashlight and checking the light out the window. Two thoughts crashed forth at the same instant. One, that he just did things without thinking, reaching for the flashlight, testing it, upping the hood on the parka. He wondered if most of what he did day after day was automatic, had he made any decisions today? Yes, the decision to use 6 teaspoons of coffee and not the normal 7, and he remembered now that after a long pause, he had added 1/4 teaspoon for good luck. Surely that should count as thinking, and smiled as he almost said out loud, "a little change is OK, big change is hard on old men". While wondering if that was his thought, or had he read it, he decided it was a good thought.
And at that moment realized he had been aware that something was not right, either the flashlight was way too bright or everything outside had been painted. Disappointed that he could not solve the riddle, and opening the door he saw 2" of snow. Well that explains that, but he was still trying puzzle why his brain had failed him. And that shameful thing yesterday......Having to get help loading a 200 pound generator onto the flatbed, only last spring he had loaded it and off loaded it, by himself.
The animals fed, with no conscious thought of the feeding, only the unpleasant picture of his body slowly failing him, like that of the spawned-out salmon. As his mind played with the ugliness of that analogy, he opened the cabin door, the ugliness vanished, replaced with the slight smell of smoke from the wood stove, and the too dry heat that only comes from heating with wood.
Parka off, he tried to retrieve the ugly thought, but the safe, snug, warmth of the cabin seduced him, and the concept would not come forth. It was a dark and snowy night.