15-March-2011 15:41

It isn’t enough to say or sit by itself, but that’s what most of us seem to do in spite of this well-found truth. I think this as I climb aboard a shuttle to travel to the Fourth and Jackson Island. The shuttle leaves while NPR touts its international stories aloud through cabin-embedded speakers. These stories bring about this initial thought to the forefront but soon an intermission occurs and the thoughts recede as the tide may, carrying with it the sand and the silt and the sediment that always tends to settle downward.

***

The articulated bus pulls up with hesitation. Two prior of the same make move slowly through the Island causing an overall ambiance of confusion and caution on the part of a red-jacketed driver with an encompassing nonchalant demeanor. I embark amidst a steely breeze on an already metallic evening. The air catches on the tip of my nose and the lobes of my ears sticking there with their persistence well-into the trek through downtown. Others that board subsequently do not show any acknowledgment of this fact, but surely their effect is noted at some unconscious level. At times I wonder for myself what I take on automatically and let their conscious inducement by the wayside. I have been, however, spurning this habit as of late, becoming increasingly discontented at its use and resulting so-called “defense against sensory overload.”

My rebellion of such things has indeed come to fruition, although its execution has ironically occurred through that established unconscious impetus.

C’est la vie.