[lit-ideas] Five Mornings
- From: David Ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 15:22:04 -0800
I'm trying to write some thoughts on the history of silence, maybe
the taxonomy of silence, figuring out what kinds of quiet there are
now, and how they may have changed over time. With quite the sense
of timing, I've picked a morning when my neighbors' hirelings are out
with their chain saws again.
When the fog has you peering forward, wondering whether the sun will
come out today, or if it will end in tears, there's coffee.
The Historians' History of the World, complete set, twenty five
volumes, must compete nowadays in the market place with the Fleas'
History of the World, umpteen thousand volumes. Write another
history is my advice. It worked for Hume, and there clearly aren't
enough.
I wonder if you remember where you first learned to open a garbage
bag, found where you are supposed to wiggle and press and separate
the two sides. It's not taught in sex ed.
One of the strangest tasks I've undertaken is writing poetical prose
on behalf of a fictional cat. The more I do it, though, the more I
like the cat. Beat that, or a horse, for happiness.
David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon
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