May 19, 2013 - Rutland, Vermont. A stop in Saratoga Springs has given way to the road again. I arrived at the lovely home of Amejo and Ed on Saturday morning - a great place of rest. Met up here with friend and collaborator Tim Mason and his lovely wife Shannon Flattery, without whom Six Truths would likely not have been completed. She oversaw all my efforts and nudged, pushed and inspired me to get it completed. I left Saginaw, stopped at Kaleidoscope, a most eclectic book store in Ann Arbor, where, much to my pleasure and regret, discovered some classics of old fantasy that I could not be without... Great conversation with Jeffrey Pickell, the proprietor, and then on the road again.
Form there it was off to Cleveland and dinner and a great conversation with humorist and author, and friend, Jan C. Snow. I met Jan C. in California at a show in Santa Margarita. She gave me her book, You May Already Be A Winner, and we have stayed in touch ever since - though not always consistently. We talked about art and poetry and music and planned to reconnect along the road as I head to Chicago next week.
I thought I had the timing for hotels and travel worked out, but ended up in the Rochester area after 1 am. For those who drive, that's a problem. Cheap rooms are gone and it really is hard to justify $150 for 6 hours of sleep... so I found a rest area and pulled out the blankets and pillows. What I now know is that is not as easy as it used to be.... Ah, the beauty of age and the wisdom it brings us.
Now heading to look at a studio for the Fulton Street project and then NYC tomorrow followed by....? I'm not really sure until Chicago on Friday.
Two reflections on this leg of the trip.... First, the huge Powerball fever that swept America this past week, as people vied against the odds to win the $600 million prize, even caught me. My Sister called and insisted I buy a quick pik 5 for $10. I did on condition she reimburse me if I lost. I did (lose that is, though someone in Maryland is $590 million less taxes richer today). Though, had I won, she'd have made $10 million (that was my easily given commitment). But that is just it: the lottery is nothing but a way, really, to fund government on the backs of those who are desperate to succeed.
I think about the myth of society we have created and that I have written about here before, We are told that we too can become Bill Gates, or Michael Jordon, or... whomever we fancy in the world of the rich and famous. But the odds are always against us. That is not to say that we shouldn't try - luck hits, and when the odds are more in your favor they hit more often. The stuff of "trailer park dreams" I once wrote, but it is the same dream for so many. We hit the prize. "You can't win if you don't play" and so many other things we see. In contrast is the other lie, that if we just work hard enough we too can get there. So which is it really? Work to chase elusive wealth until we die, or complacently give our collective money back to a fantasy of instant millions? It is hard for me to know which is the better path (though I suspect believing in raw chance serves better odds).
The only way to unstack this deck that is stacked against so many is to fight for it. What I mean by that is to work to level the playing field. If we are going to be asked to clean up the mess others have made, to pay for their errors, we should insist they should as well. Why is it that we elect those who would take away working wages and benefits as though somehow they were better stewards of our future than we are? I don't know that answer, but given how much is spent to convince us to worship wealth, I suspect that there are powerful forces working within us against that vision. I count on it, in fact.
The second thing? I think a life that is lived well generates good will. Maybe that is my lottery belief. I think I take an extra step for those I know are doing the same. I think most of us do. I think that is a life, a way of being worth fighting for. I look for those who work to improve our lives, those who do so with little regard for reward. Those are the folks who may already be a winner...
One final note, a shout out to my friend Terry Holder who made it as a finalist at Wildfloweryesterday!