Thursday, December 4, 2008

when life gives you hedge apples

OK. You're feeling down. A little blue. Listening to Iris Dement sing "My Life" no longer works to bring you out of the doldrums. What to do? Try this my little hedge apple, it's guaranteed to work.

Every day, at lunch, kick a hedge apple around a two-mile loop of gravel. A futile, yet fulfilling trek, the act has a quiet beauty to it. An iridescent mass of green pulp rolling slowly along against the grey limestone chaff. And the stroll has definite moments of decision - should one dribble gently to hold the mass intact (an act of mercy?) or quickly blow the orb apart with aplomb and swift kicks. The hedge apple leaves a sticky trail of goo, evidence that you have been there, but the trace is temporary and disappears with little trace in the afternoon sun. This leaves tomorrow open for another shot at completing the circle or your life.

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