Science & Nature

 A morning at the Perot Museum of Science and Nature is always a good morning. And yet, for some reason, I started feeling a little bit down as I was walking around. I’m not sure if it was because I was the only one alone, surrounded by couples and families, or if it was because I was not feeling all that well. I decided to head back to the train and go home instead of visiting the Museum of Art afterwards, as I had originally planned to do. 

Once home, I had a quick shower because I’d done a lot of walking in the intense heat and then I lay down on the couch to continue re-reading Post Office by Charles Bukowski. His first novel, one that he wrote in less than a month because he’d been offered $100 a month for the rest of his life by John Martin from Black Sparrow press if he promised to quit his job and write. He quit his job at the post office and wrote about it. The rest is history. Since I first read that story, many years ago, it has been something of a dream of mine that someone offer me money to stop working and do something else. I suppose it would be more accurate to call it a fantasy. 

                  Now I sit at the pool and reflect… most of my friends and family live in Europe, Africa, or other distant parts of the earth that are in vastly different time zones. This is great if I wake up early, there is usually always someone to talk to. However, it is the reverse of that when 4pm arrives in Dallas, most people are asleep and the evenings can become very quiet. This can also be a great thing, a great time to read or write or watch films, but it does mean that if one feels down or lonely, there is no one around for a chat. Working mostly with people in those time zones also means that I have many early morning meetings, something I am becoming increasingly tired of. Having said that, I can’t really complain, I have a good life and don’t have to go into a factory or a warehouse every day, I don’t have to commute, I walk to the office, and we have a hybrid policy. 

                  As nighttime rolls around, I have finished Post Office and started Manazuru by Hiromi Kawakami.



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