Old Men’s Tales
Why is it that old wives’ tales are called old wives’ tales when old men’s tales are called religion and philosophy?
— Unknown
*
This is what life does. It lets you walk up to
the store to buy breakfast and the paper, on a
stiff knee. It lets you choose the way you have
your eggs, your coffee. Then it sits a fisherman down beside you at the counter who says, Last night, the channel was full of starfish. And you wonder, is this a message, finally, or just another day?…
So life lets you have a sandwich, and pie for your late night dessert. (Pie for the dog, as well.) And then life sends you back to bed, to dreamland, while outside, the starfish drift through the channel, with smiles on their starry faces as they head out to deep water, to the far and boundless sea.
— Eleanor Lerman
*
“There’s something to be said about losing possessions (… ). I had loved my home in Nankin and the little treasures it contained, the beautiful garden I had made, my life with friends and students. Well, that was over with. Now I had nothing at all except the old clothes I was wearing. I should have felt sad, and I was quite surprised to realize I didn’t feel like this at all. On the contrary, I had a total…
