ka - BOOM!

I was just sitting here at the keyboard, like I frequently do ... minding my own business ... watching letters and words stringing themselves together as though they knew exactly where they were going.


Then ... suddenly ... ka-BOOM! ... the sound of a cannon going off ... a flash of light that, I’d swear, filled the whole room. And then a deadly silence ... and darkness, of course. It was like Brimm Manor had suffered a direct hit.


I’m not really versed in things electrical, but I know when they’ve abruptly stopped working.


And they had definitely stopped. That was a week or so ago ... maybe two weeks now. You know how time flies when you’re supposed to be having fun.


Eventually, with some tinkering with the fuses ... replacing some switches ... crawling back and forth in the attic ... days later, we had most of our lights back on.


Back to the computer, though. It came back up ... but it wasn’t really working. That is, I could see things on the screen, could even bring up some files and pretend I was working on them.


But contact with the outer world? Forget it. I tried everything ... well, almost everything. It SEEMED like I had tried EVERYTHING, believe me.


Finally, Phyllis ... the long-suffering, ever-patient Phyllis ... asked, “Have you called someone for help?”


Oh, no! Not that! That would be the equivalent of stopping to ask directions when I’m out driving and get lost ... not that I’ve ever gotten lost while driving ... oh, no ... 


Well, actually, I have gotten lost a few times while out driving ... but that’s another story entirely (usually Phyllis will ask for directions on my behalf ... thus keeping MY record clean in that department).


I knew she was right, though. Isn’t she always? So ... a few days later, when I felt I wasn’t being watched, I took the phone upstairs and quietly called for help.


The person to whom I was speaking instructed me to do a couple of things and tell him what happened, and, on that basis, had diagnosed the problem ... and had a solution on the way ... all in a matter of about 10 minutes!


It was the modem, folks, the modem. Isn’t it always the last thing you suspect?


So here I am ... just sitting at the keyboard, like I frequently do ... minding my own business ... watching letters and words stringing themselves together as though they know exactly where they are going.


But now I’m also listening for ... there it WAS! ... a distant rumble of thunder ... WHOA! I’m OUTTA here! See ya LATER ...


-S&G-


(much later) I’M BACK ... but I’m still listening ... Oh, am I ever!


-S&G-


PROFESSOR SQUIGGLEE ... you know how suspicious he can be of seemingly unexplained absences ... thought I had been in Florida on spring break all this time. Never! And, should he ask you, please tell him ... the truth now ... that I wasn’t any where near Florida. 


-S&G-


TODAY’S POEM: I’ve heard it said that desperate times call for desperate measures. Well, after the recent BIG KA-BOOM! at Brimm Manor, I’d say these are desperate times. So-o-o ...


Some of you may have heard/read today’s poem before. If so, I hope you’ll forgive my repeating myself ... and maybe write it off as a part of my becoming ... what’s it called? Older, maybe? 


Anyway, here it is:


SUMMER SHOWDOWN


Summer sun’s so boiling hot
I can almost hear the soft
clinking of spurs, stealthy
creaking of the boardwalk,
a sudden, smothering silence
in which the buzz of a fly
sounds sinister, foretelling
a showdown on the sun-baked,
hoof-pocked, clatter-plaited
street, where a tumbleweed
pauses in the sanctum of shade
cast by a tumble-down saloon,
where I stand, suddenly struck
by a lightning flash of thirst.


(originally published in St. Anthony Messenger)


-S&G-


COMMENT? Feel free ... below, if you like. 


Or if you prefer e-mail, that's fine, too ... especially for more detailed observations, to


 rbrimm@peoplepc.com




... and it helps if you put "Squiggles" or "S&G" ... something like that ... in the subject line (just remember, no religion or politics ... please!)


-S&G-


And if you’d like to see what’s up with my other, DAILY blog,  here’s a link to it:


http://rbrimm.blogspot.com/


Thanks for paying a visit.




-S&G-


UNTIL NEXT TIME ... take care ... see ya!


-S&G-


©  2010