When we were at Nag's Head, the wind - strangely, I thought - took itself out to sea instead of in from the sea - which for kites is just fine. Except, perhaps, for the integrity of its seams or the endurance of the cord, without houses, poles, wires, or trees to tempt it, nothing in the whole universe remains in the way of a kite's reaching as high as the moon when sailing out over the ocean.
So we sent our precious bat-winged toy racing up with a steady gale. Higher, higher - smaller, smaller - until just a period on the blank sky (it had to be a record) - and, of course, the higher it went, the stronger the pull to test our control, and the greater the thrill of the adventure.
Then we slowed the awkwardly spinning spool as every foot we let the string out worried us, anticipating the break we knew must come, but didn't. That should have been satisfying enough for us to, with relief, roll it back. Instead, we let it go on and on.
End
If you really want to know your place in the scheme of things, just ask - almost anyone will be willing to tell you. I'd rather let the scheme of things make a place for me - though that doesn't seem to have worked out so well either.
No one has ever convinced the great white shark of the advantages of living in captivity.
Authority is arrogant. Sometimes it's cruel, sometimes benevolent. But watch out for kindly paternalism, a particularly deceptive form of arrogance. Our free will is a precious natural right. Those who would decide for us - for our own good - are usurping our free will.
Cemetery regulations dictating flat headstones for ease in cutting the grass are a final indignation.
Whenever I see something that excites me, I turn around to see if anyone else saw it too.
Do I cease to exist after I die? Maybe. Try: do you cease to exist after I die?
I think it's a cruel hoax to sell people on the concept that self-improvement should be a major goal in life.
Every night, new dreams are populated with old ghosts.
Comments: gkearns@prodigy.net
Notes and Pennies from Circles Linger copyright 1987 by Gordon H. Kearns
