I am sitting at my new computer. Someone who I will not name ( it was Norma), knew I was shortly headed to the post office and thrust three letters across the table at me, which knocked over a goblet of pinot noir. Its contents splashed across the laptop keyboard. I briefly watched the wine sink among the keys into the computer works. Then I looked up at the culprit,...
...into her eyes, and, exactly as I did 52 years ago, fell into them.
"Let's go shopping," I said. And, as so often happens after random events, we did. I bought a new computer. It is red, like pinot noir.
You got solutions to two unfortunate happenings. A new laptop and new glasses. Perfect.
ReplyDeleteSeemed like a good deal to me, Emma.
DeleteYou and Norma mix well, Geo., and light up this mini-universe in blogland, as I'm sure you also do in your real life.
ReplyDeleteThat is a snazzy laptop - and saves on having to buy a red convertible, does it not?
Kind Jenny, thanks. I like the the "convertible" idea. Maybe I should get a table fan to blow my hair off.
DeleteWhat a beautiful woman! You're not bad either, sport.
ReplyDeleteShe is beautiful, Bruce, has been since I met her in 1967. We're starting to get serious.
DeleteRed, that's a fancy computer you got there!
ReplyDeletewww.thepulpitandthepen.com
It is, Sage, and I don't half understand it --a sure sign of fancy.
DeletePost hoc, ergo propter hoc, eh? Or serendipity, or any one of the other random things that turn out well. Very good. Both of you look in fine fettle, Geo.
ReplyDeleteI'm doing much better too.
Indeed, dear Mike:"After this, therefore because of this", and some other words (some of which burn plaque off the back of our teeth), we find order and happiness through the chaos. Norma is the stronger of us two now, but I'm getting there. You get there too, deal?
DeleteOf course you fell into her eyes, and no doubt drowned in them too. To be resurrected yet again. Love is a powerful beast, and I am so glad that beautiful you and beautiful Norma ride it with grace and style.
ReplyDeleteThank You EC, my dear. Love is indeed strong. As for grace and style, our 1st big move in 1970 was in a '52 Dodge 3/4 ton pickup (cost $200!,a summer in the hop yards) with all our possessions --like a road scene from "Grapes Of Wrath". Retired now for 10 years and prefer cars from this century --they have air conditioning! Any style or grace is Norma's doing.
DeleteNorma has beautiful eyes, and you chose the one safe course of action that would have worked in this house ~ buy a new computer. Since I'm prone to disaster, we switched to stemless, heavy-bottomed wine glasses years ago. I hope you both enjoy the new computer and don't spill any more wine.
ReplyDeleteOh Louise, I was doubly traumatized by my wine spilling and computer getting suddenly and permanently swacked. I shall in all my best avoid spilling that elixir which helps humans cope with their wisdom and try to understand the oddities of this brash new technology. This means I must postpone any decline into pleasant idiocy I may have had planned.
DeleteThe thought of pleasant idiocy seems blissful sometimes; but then I get real. Postpone by all means! Have a good week!
DeleteNo problem. Older I get, the better I am at postoning. Good week to you too!
DeleteAnd there you are with a snazzy new laptop and a tip proof glass of your favourite wine. Everything worked out for the best as it usually does.
ReplyDeleteDear Delores, I have reached the age I'm in favor of quick solutions to common mishaps --the snazzy age. I like it!
DeleteIt is glorious that you can still lose yourself in Norma's beautiful eyes. It is a rare and wonderful thing for love to burn so fiercely, in spite of... or maybe because of?... the passage of time. The love of our youth may be dizzying with all of its grand hopes for the endless future, but now? It is more precious than ever.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend, dude.
Perceptive Susan, you have deduced my changing mix of feelings about time. Love still thematizes the temporal passage, but any dizzying makes my doctor threaten to confiscate my driver's license.
DeleteI loved this post and all the comments. Yes, quite love[ing]ly. I have within the last three weeks acquired a reconditioned desktop computer. I never realised computer response could be so fast. Amazing!
ReplyDeleteWe need efficient tools to help us understand this strange new world, fast computers, accurate reporters and minds receptive to reflection and logic. Amazement is our signal that the world need not be so baffling after all. As things get better defined, I hope to enjoy astonishment as well.
DeleteFirst of all, I've never seen a red computer before. I like it.
ReplyDeleteSecond of all, wine glasses always seem to cause problems of one kind or another. Which is why I simply unscrew the cap and drink from the bottle.... (I think I've been in the wilderness too long).
Third, anyone who still writes REAL letters and sends them via Snail Mail has my wholehearted appreciation and admiration. You can tell that to Norma.
And Fourth -
I have no doubt that your match with Norma was indeed one made in heaven.
It makes me (almost) regret that I never married.
I think you'd like Norma. She has a strong sense of quiddity --the WHAT-NESS of things. Keeps me on an even keel. We met in a library. Whether it was the Improbable Possible or Heaven that put her in my path, I still don't know but I had no intention of marrying at the time --nor did she. I asked her out. A year later she said yes. We went to the San Francisco performance Of "Hair". These things happen.
DeleteYou and Norma are a beautiful and understanding couple and what’s a little spill on the laptop after all those years together. I bet this new computer is faster and better than the old one. I’d tip my glass of wine to you both for your 52 years, but well, you know what could happen.
ReplyDeleteLovely Arleen, thank you for your excellent perception. Yes, Norma is as much a mystery to me now as she was that day deep in the past century. I must say we met three years before marrying in 1970. It was not the best of times in the world. I'd just had my pre-induction physical etc. No guarantees, no...you remember. We grasped life while it still existed. A glass of wine with you, or even one spilled here and there, well-into this century, is a privilege. Let us be grateful for every moment --and in every moment seek love.
DeleteThat is a wonderful random event and atomic attraction with a never ending shelf life. And a new computer to boot!
ReplyDeleteDamn right Tom, and thanks for keeping us informed all those years. Yours is a stabilizing service that has helped us all.
DeleteWhat a lovely photo of a very beautiful woman, dear Geo. - and a wonderful text full of love! She looks you directly into the eyes, smiles - and I think you both are very happy to have found each other.
ReplyDeleteBeauty is not only skin-deep - and I notice when someone has found the secret of being 'eternal young' - it is a matter of the heart.
Your heartfelt and beautifully phrased comment has moved me, dear Brigitta. Thank you.
DeleteCongratulations and following tribulations of a new computer, friend Geo … Glad about Norma … smiles … Glad about the pinot noir as well … Just don't drink it straight out of the bottle, eh? … smiles … Much love, cat.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the smiles, Cat. I haven't drunk wine from the bottle since I was a teenager, but even then we were classy enough to keep the paper bag on it. See, that way nobody could guess what we were drinking.
DeleteBeautiful! So beautiful, it brought tears to my eyes!
ReplyDeleteOh WOW...who would have though there were all those limitless events happening in that old farmhouse??
I am so in awe...😊😊
Beautiful Ygraine, the promise of further existence is a standard quotient of the universe and old farmhouses. Space divided by time yields a surd, a number that gets infinitely busy right of the decimal point.
Delete