A Lot of That Going Around

Well, it's been a long winter! First the cat's extended problems, then my mom getting pneumonia, and the other day my brother-in-law had emergency bypass surgery, so I feel a little drained of wit and whimsy. I can get myself into a mood of wistful elegy with no trouble at all, but I don't know how much the marketplace needs of that. I met some friends last night to plan a fishing trip, and first we tried this place that happened to be full of loud music and young people. They were laughing and drinking and talking and taking pictures of themselves, and I think that if I wheeled up a truckload of wistful and elegiac observations, I wouldn't have gotten a nickel for them.

We went to a quieter place, and the ones who were committed handed over deposit checks. We're going here: Christmas Island, or Kiritimati in Gilbertese. It's a year off, so I have a little time to earn the money. The only plan I can think of at the moment is to sell a kidney to some ailing millionaire in a country where this can be done in a discreet way, but I'll try to think of something better over the weekend. The mere prospect of a week fishing in the tropics, even if it's a year off, is quite cheering. It's the fishing, of course, and the friends, not necessarily in that order, and it's the colors. I decided long ago that it's like looking at sapphires and emeralds in the glow of a lamp, except that the whole world is lit from within and colored like gems. Here's a picture I took in the Bahamas that'll give you the idea. There are too many people and cats and other creatures who are having problems with their health or other things, and it can be depressing, but you just have to hang in there and after a while you can have fun again. Like I say, sometimes the mere prospect is cheering enough.