Reminds me of a story my parents would tell each other for years, which never lost its appeal to them. They had gone on a Caribbean cruise, probably Norwegian Lines. Anyway, one of the couples (a gentile couple from Brooklyn, of all places) seated at the communal table they were assigned to couldn't stop oohing and aahing over the fish that was offered each morning at breakfast. Oh, the taste. Oh, the silkiness. Perfect with eggs. On and on it went. They couldn't get over this great new fish they had just discovered -- nova scotia salmon. Finally, on the last day of the trip my Dad relented and said "Look, folks, go into any fish store or deli when you get back to Brooklyn and just ask for lox."
ricpic...if you're still around...this one is for you. I found it today, when The Way It Is by W.Stafford arrived.
What some people know how to do with machines and electricity, others do with words.
Fixers
On back roads you can find people who keep machinery alive. With a file, a wrench, a hammer they scrape, twist and pound until the old tractor wakes up or the plough bites again into the ground.
I've bullied rusty iron and made it remember what to do, and once on a back road I put out a fire under the hood of a car; but these greasy geniuses have to conjure miracles day after day just to keep going.
Often their audience is a customer eager to get started again, or maybe their little daughter watching how Daddy fixes things. And sometimes only an old dog--wise in when to jump aside-- studies mechanics and barks when The Master says, "There!"
Thanks Chip! Stories that could be true...that makes me smile as does the connect. Talk about unopen eyes. I wasn't aware of Stafford before last week and the link happened through a poem found in a book by R. Rohr. I'm glad I ordered it. When life delivers something good outside and beyond expectations, something that is and was there all along while I muddled dispiritedly through gloom, I feel a sense of surprise and hope that comes close to joy.
Reminds me of a story my parents would tell each other for years, which never lost its appeal to them. They had gone on a Caribbean cruise, probably Norwegian Lines. Anyway, one of the couples (a gentile couple from Brooklyn, of all places) seated at the communal table they were assigned to couldn't stop oohing and aahing over the fish that was offered each morning at breakfast. Oh, the taste. Oh, the silkiness. Perfect with eggs. On and on it went. They couldn't get over this great new fish they had just discovered -- nova scotia salmon. Finally, on the last day of the trip my Dad relented and said "Look, folks, go into any fish store or deli when you get back to Brooklyn and just ask for lox."
ReplyDeletericpic, Is it true a fish must have scales to be kosher?
ReplyDeleteI'll take salmon sushi.
ReplyDeletericpic...if you're still around...this one is for you. I found it today, when The Way It Is by W.Stafford arrived.
ReplyDeleteWhat some people know how to do with machines and electricity, others do with words.
Fixers
On back roads you can find people
who keep machinery alive. With a file,
a wrench, a hammer they scrape, twist
and pound until the old tractor wakes up
or the plough bites again into the ground.
I've bullied rusty iron and made it
remember what to do, and once on a back road
I put out a fire under the hood of a car;
but these greasy geniuses have to conjure
miracles day after day just to keep going.
Often their audience is a customer eager to
get started again, or maybe their little daughter
watching how Daddy fixes things. And sometimes
only an old dog--wise in when to jump aside--
studies mechanics and barks when The Master says,
"There!"
MamaM, William Stafford is great!
ReplyDeleteHe published another collection w/ a title that I use all the time in talking w/ people...Stories That Could Be True.
spinelli - Yes, must have fins and scales. That means no shell fish, what a loss! I mean is there anything better than lobster, clams, shrimp?
ReplyDeleteThanks Chip! Stories that could be true...that makes me smile as does the connect. Talk about unopen eyes. I wasn't aware of Stafford before last week and the link happened through a poem found in a book by R. Rohr. I'm glad I ordered it. When life delivers something good outside and beyond expectations, something that is and was there all along while I muddled dispiritedly through gloom, I feel a sense of surprise and hope that comes close to joy.
ReplyDeleteAnother form of "There!"