Above Ground

Late yesterday afternoon I looked out my bedroom window when it was dark on the ground but the sun was still bright in the treetops. For once I was not too lazy to get my camera.







I'd just gone to the doctor for a checkup and the nurse was impressed that my blood pressure was 94/64, the same as it's been for decades. I also got to answer "no" to most of her questions, which pleased me. Then, when I was leaving, I saw a huge rack of informational brochures and was a little overwhelmed by the panoply of disasters and diseases that may lie ahead! But for right now I didn't need any of those brochures. I felt lucky.

I also felt strong. When I was trenching a hill with my mattock to lay power and water lines to our studio, the carpenter who was overseeing my activities (actually my former fellow Pratie Head, Bob Vasile) reflected: "you were born to dig potatoes." I took it as a compliment, though when I reminded my daughter Melina later that she was born of a woman who was born to dig potatoes, she instantly told me: "that's a recessive gene."

At this moment, nothing is going wrong. On this day, I worked out on the elliptical trainer watching the wonderful Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect 3; began my new program of memorizing a big batch of fiddle tunes; played the piano; went for a walk; read the Prisoner of Azkaban in Spanish; sat, in shorts and t-shirt and kenos (they're only $9 if you buy them at the factory, cash only), basking on the patio outside a favorite neighborhood joint, reading Moby Dick and eating a piece of pizza in the sunshine.

Every day above ground is a good day, but some days are more above ground than usual. Why, only the previous day I had been feeling like Bambi immediately following the climax of the movie "Bambi Meets Godzilla" - [warning - spoiler] - that is to say, like a flattened toon peeling myself slowly out of the crater left by Godzilla's paw.

There are sites, by the way, which claim you can download this classic animated short for free, but I didn't have the nerve to try.

If you never saw "Bambi Meets Godzilla" AND don't have the nerve to download it AND haven't gotten the gist of it from the title, learn more by reading the four word reviews.




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