Questions of Life

I have been pondering this week, which given the heat and the fact that it is vacation time is a feat in itself.  There have been lingering questions in my mind, uncertainties that never seem to have an answer.  These are relevant, pertinent queries that demand a response.

First question:  Am I (or, are we) the dirtiest (or cleanest) people I (we) know?  The reason I ask this is evident in the laundry pile, it never seems to go down.  No matter what extreme, be it doing 2 loads of laundry a day or 6, this heap of whites and colors in no way retreats.  In fact, it almost seems to swell.  This mountain of fashion laughs, sneers and lurks in the darkness of the closet.  Then is giddy with delight when clean, folded and placed in the laundry basket, ready to seize upon the unsuspecting and begin its vicious cycle again.

Second question:  When a new restaurant opens, where do all the people come from and why are all the old restaurants still busy too?  For the life of me this is an all out perplexing fact of life.  Folks just seem to materialize out of thin air and cause great waits at new establishments.  Trying new institutions of culinary delight is gastric and pleasurable, but when the delay becomes two or three hours it pushes the limit of human respectability and borders on cruel and unusual punishment.  In the event of the proposed extended deferment, you retreat, go to plan B and head for a tried and true eatery…and it is packed solid with other persons with the same plan.  No fewer people here, so, again, where do the people at the new refectory come from?

Third question:  Why after an hour-long conversation with a friend, you hang up the phone and realize you have forgotten to ask/tell/discuss with them the real reason you were calling in the first place?  Now one would think that only the simple minded fall prey to this memory lapse but it is a good deal more severe that you think.  This situation is not limited to the fairer sex, everyone is susceptible.  Young and old alike are not immune to the strangling hold of this most brutal of the “hit yourself in the noggin because you forgot” episodes.  The subliminal plays havoc with the “whys” and “ how-comes”… my suggestion is to write down what you feel is essential, color code it by names, keep it by the phone and pray you recollect that is of the utmost importance that you confer with your friend about it.  Or, just keep calling your friend – it may be on their list to talk to you about.

Last but not least are the never ending questions of youth…if the bear does what he does in the woods – what does he really do?; is the church leader in fact part of the sect?; and if a tree falls and no one is around to hear it, would it make a sound?

There are many hard hitting questions, like these, that may take years to resolve.  These are inquiries that force us to delve into our inner psyche (don’t dive too deeply; pain is not what we are going for here).  Grab a cold drink, sit on the beach and call it a triumphant summer if you can honestly answer any of these (or your own) perplexing questions of life.  Now is the time to start your journey in finding the ultimate answer(s) and make peace with yourself.

Cynthia A. McClelland, curious observer of the obvious with interpretations of the oddities of daily life. Mother, wife and lover of the furry, resides in the north Lake Tahoe area.

Cynthia A. McClelland © 2003-