The Thirty Second Video

Lennon wanted to watch The Yellow Submarine again this morning and my son was giving him a hard time, saying he must have watched it ten times in the last five days! Well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I have watched the same thirty seconds of a small video more than that. Sometimes things just speak to us and if we are honest with ourselves we really do seize the moment and run with it.

I am experiencing an extraordinary creative period right now and everything that feeds it stays right in front of me as much as possible. I have suspended almost all extraneous reading. There are really two reasons for this. Firstly, I am loving my own story and watching it develop is as fascinating to me as reading some of my favorite authors. Secondly, other books distract me, take me away from this place I am living in right now, with the exception of my friend's book, which is so much different than mine that it poses no problems.

So, here I am. Living on a mountain in North Carolina without a car for the past eleven days, and it occurred to me that I am living with less than I ever have in my entire life. A huge part of my life has been spent in relative wealth and luxury. That has changed over the past ten years. The refrigerator kicked on this morning and I realized it is really the only big appliance I have.

I have a very small four burner apartment stove without a working oven, and a small toaster oven. There is no dishwasher, no place to hook up my washer and dryer, no Jacuzzi, no air conditioner, no central heating, not even a furnace of any sort. I have a huge bathtub and enough hot water to fill it half full on a good day, but its shower works great.

I have an old fashioned twenty inch television with a simple vcr/dvd player, a twenty year old boom box with fantastic speakers and my computer. I don't have a cell phone. I don't even have a regular phone. I have magicJack that hooks into my computer and is paid for, for the next five years. It is very cheap and works just fine.

My house is filled with books and a piano, violin, flute, guitar, dulcimer and Native American flute, blocks and books for Lennon and a few toys for Chauncey. My ceiling reverberates with the sound of my grandchild's feet and my backyard has views most people would die for.

I am not just content. I am happy.