[Kyoko Kumai. Wind from the Cloud Wall Hanging. 1992. Stainless steel wire]
The old man who lives down the street from me had a heart attack. I found out tonight when I was walking with Yuki. We walk by the old man's house almost everyday. Tonight, a younger man came out of the old man's house, walked down the steps and past me and Yuki to the street side mailbox. The man looked at me and said he was picking up mail for the man who lived in that house. I nodded. He asked if I knew which mailbox was the old man's and if I knew which key was the mailbox key. I didn't know, but I held out my hand and he gave me the keys. In seconds, I found the right box and the key that fit it. Sometimes other people can help with the small things when big things like heart attacks happen. I just happened to be there, able to jiggle keys, and open a mailbox. The man picking up the mail may have been a relative. As he took the mail, the man said, "he had a heart attack--at my house; he's in critical care at TMC." I nodded. What could I say? I often saw the old man outside planting or weeding; I live down the street. So, that's what I said. The old man is over 80.
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By the way, if you read my harrumpff posting a few posts ago, you will see that my blogger header image has reverted to its original appearance. Is this a case of computer magic? Or, perhaps another case of "empty boat(ness)." The empty boat story goes something like this:
It was a calm, clear day on a turquoise lake. A woman was out in the middle of the lake in her row boat, contentedly reading a book while slowly drifting on the the calm waters. After a while, the woman saw what looked like a red leaf way off near the other shore. As the leaf moved a little closer, she saw that it was a red houseboat. It was still quite a distance away, so the woman went back to reading. In a few moments, however, she saw that the houseboat was coming straight towards her boat. She started waving her arms frantically and yelling. Doesn't the captain see her? Why isn't it swerving out of the way? As the houseboat crashed into her smaller boat she was still shouting, but she also saw that there was no human aboard. She had been frantically waving her arms at an empty boat.
1 comment:
Dear Nicole !
I have now put your blog on my blogroll and is able to visit it frequently.....intesting story about empty boat-ness....and I´ve also thought about your story about the old man from your street...nice to be able to do something even though it´s a smaller thing....I´ve read som more on your blog and you´re very much interested in the japanese ? isn´t it so ? I´m not that familiar with the japanese but once I wrote something about the american architect Frank Lloyd Wright I found that he was both inspirered by the Japanese esthetic and Pre-colombian architecture and I read something about his japanes influence and found it very interesting....
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