This morning was pretty uneventful, sort of a ho hum outing as I wandered along the banks of the river searching for a stray section of tree limb or trunk that could serve as post for my mailbox. I could easily go purchase a 4x4 at Home Depot, but the idea of using a piece of timber from the island, as I did for my coat rack, is much more appealing. I did spot one recently fallen tree that could serve my purpose, but I would have to return with saw in hand and cut the section, something I'm not disposed to do this morning.
So instead I'll share a couple of poems composed this week while wandering around the island with my head in the clouds.
The initial thought relating to work comes to me as I prepare to rejoin the workplace. My first day on a new job is next Monday, about which I have mixed feelings: excited yet apprehensive and a tad melancholy at the understanding that my carefree life of leisure will soon come to an end, and my time for indulging in writing, painting, playing music, wandering the island, and composing blog posts will be in far shorter supply than heretofore. But one is obliged to generate a certain amount of filthy lucre to survive, and also to afford certain of the pleasures that add spice to one's life. Travel, for example. One motivation for shedding the responsibilities (and expenses) of being a homeowner was so that we could devote more time and money to travel and other stimulating endeavors. I do have passion for, and derive satisfaction from, the line of work I have done for many years, and look forward to being anxiously engaged in it once again. Existing in a bubble of contemplation and artistic activity on an island is all well and good, but no man is an island, as they say (or rather, as John Donne said), and even an artist (or especially an artist) needs interaction with others and engagement with the world at large and the pressing concerns of humankind.
And so, as I head back into the workaday world, with days filled with time that is perpetually running out, I hope I can make the best use of it, wherever I may be, whether in a conference room discussing the most effective application of available data mirroring strategies, or on an island in the Mississippi River, wandering on the banks and over bridges and through timberlands in search of the perfect branch.
Life flows on, in and around us--while at work, at play, and when feeling our way, hand over hand, along a branch we have never embraced before.
D.E.S.
So instead I'll share a couple of poems composed this week while wandering around the island with my head in the clouds.
The initial thought relating to work comes to me as I prepare to rejoin the workplace. My first day on a new job is next Monday, about which I have mixed feelings: excited yet apprehensive and a tad melancholy at the understanding that my carefree life of leisure will soon come to an end, and my time for indulging in writing, painting, playing music, wandering the island, and composing blog posts will be in far shorter supply than heretofore. But one is obliged to generate a certain amount of filthy lucre to survive, and also to afford certain of the pleasures that add spice to one's life. Travel, for example. One motivation for shedding the responsibilities (and expenses) of being a homeowner was so that we could devote more time and money to travel and other stimulating endeavors. I do have passion for, and derive satisfaction from, the line of work I have done for many years, and look forward to being anxiously engaged in it once again. Existing in a bubble of contemplation and artistic activity on an island is all well and good, but no man is an island, as they say (or rather, as John Donne said), and even an artist (or especially an artist) needs interaction with others and engagement with the world at large and the pressing concerns of humankind.
And so, as I head back into the workaday world, with days filled with time that is perpetually running out, I hope I can make the best use of it, wherever I may be, whether in a conference room discussing the most effective application of available data mirroring strategies, or on an island in the Mississippi River, wandering on the banks and over bridges and through timberlands in search of the perfect branch.
Life flows on, in and around us--while at work, at play, and when feeling our way, hand over hand, along a branch we have never embraced before.
D.E.S.
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