design
climbing step-by-step starkly like death and desire up to just below the sky
which now is filled with falling snow. The stairs are divided into two landings
and I have a railing, so I won’t fall off the barn on my way to writing or when
returning.
…not a good idea.
There is a light bulb at the top of the first
landing where the stairs turn to go up another flight ending at a second light
bulb.
I have a switch in the barn and a switch at
the top of the stairs. It is a two-way switch, so that I can control the lights
from the barn or at the top of the stairs, either way. When I turn the switch
on, the barn is bathed in a beautiful reddish light like a sundown from the
wood and I am illuminated in my comings and goings.
I like to turn the switch on and off. It is
very dramatic because the stairs are a cream-colored pine shining like a bridge
against the redwood sunset and an important junction in my day-to-day life here
in Montana.
[A slight meandering here because I just
wanted to say that there are birds living in this barn that keep me company and
there are some rabbits spending the winter downstairs where the hay for the
horses is stored. There are little outcroppings of rabbit shit lying in
mushroom-like designs in the loose hay from the bales. Sometimes when I feel lonely
it is comforting to know that there are rabbits sharing my huge literary house,
though I have never seen one, just their perfect poetic shit. Let’s return to
the lights.]
I receive pleasure from turning the lights
on and off when coming and going from words like these. For some reason unknown
to me I have been using bulbs of low wattage to shine my way.
Yesterday I discovered that the bulb at the
top of the first landing was only 25 watts and the bulb at the top of the second
landing where my room is, was only 75 watts, for a total of 100 watts of seeing
power.
I thought about it after I finished writing
and decided to increase the wattage and consequently the light in the barn.
Last night after watching a high school basketball game in town, I went to a
store that is open 24 hours a day and bought two light bulbs, which was one of
the greatest adventures of my lite.
I originally thought of increasing the
bulbs to 150 watts, knowing all the time that 100 watts apiece would be a dramatic
change, especially at the top of the first landing which had had a 25 watt
globe for God only knows how long.
Maybe years…
Who keeps track of light bulb anniversaries
these days, not unless you suddenly notice that you haven’t changed a bulb in
say, fifty years? Then you pay some attention, call out the media, but mostly
you just forget about it. There are other things to think about: Does my wife
love me? Why does she laugh a little too loud at my jokes when I know they aren’t
that funny or what am I going to do with the rest of my life?
Things other than light bulbs take up our
time, which is not unreasonable.
Anyway, there I was standing in the light
bulb section gazing fondly at wattage. From the way I looked you might think I
was a collector of electric postage stamps and was just adding some very rare
ones to my collection. Two 100 watt bulbs would be very adequate, but then I
got to thinking why not go for some dramatic lighting like 150 watt bulbs?
That would really be something to see when
I turned them on at night for the first time. The barn would explode in light
like a Broadway play.
I liked that idea a lot, and then I saw
some 200 watt bulbs. My heart almost skipped a beat like a critic falling in
love with a play.
200 watt bulbs!
What an opportunity for fun!
I could light up my Montana redwood barn
just like Times Square. Why settle for a Broadway play when you can have one of
the world’s most famous theater districts in your barn?
I bought the two bulbs with an eager
anticipation for the next day when I would put them in the barn and the next night
when I would turn them on for the first time.
Well, now it’s the day
climbing step-by-step starkly like death and desire up to just below the sky
which now is filled with falling snow. The stairs are divided into two landings
and I have a railing, so I won’t fall off the barn on my way to writing or when
returning.
…not a good idea.
There is a light bulb at the top of the first
landing where the stairs turn to go up another flight ending at a second light
bulb.
I have a switch in the barn and a switch at
the top of the stairs. It is a two-way switch, so that I can control the lights
from the barn or at the top of the stairs, either way. When I turn the switch
on, the barn is bathed in a beautiful reddish light like a sundown from the
wood and I am illuminated in my comings and goings.
I like to turn the switch on and off. It is
very dramatic because the stairs are a cream-colored pine shining like a bridge
against the redwood sunset and an important junction in my day-to-day life here
in Montana.
[A slight meandering here because I just
wanted to say that there are birds living in this barn that keep me company and
there are some rabbits spending the winter downstairs where the hay for the
horses is stored. There are little outcroppings of rabbit shit lying in
mushroom-like designs in the loose hay from the bales. Sometimes when I feel lonely
it is comforting to know that there are rabbits sharing my huge literary house,
though I have never seen one, just their perfect poetic shit. Let’s return to
the lights.]
I receive pleasure from turning the lights
on and off when coming and going from words like these. For some reason unknown
to me I have been using bulbs of low wattage to shine my way.
Yesterday I discovered that the bulb at the
top of the first landing was only 25 watts and the bulb at the top of the second
landing where my room is, was only 75 watts, for a total of 100 watts of seeing
power.
I thought about it after I finished writing
and decided to increase the wattage and consequently the light in the barn.
Last night after watching a high school basketball game in town, I went to a
store that is open 24 hours a day and bought two light bulbs, which was one of
the greatest adventures of my lite.
I originally thought of increasing the
bulbs to 150 watts, knowing all the time that 100 watts apiece would be a dramatic
change, especially at the top of the first landing which had had a 25 watt
globe for God only knows how long.
Maybe years…
Who keeps track of light bulb anniversaries
these days, not unless you suddenly notice that you haven’t changed a bulb in
say, fifty years? Then you pay some attention, call out the media, but mostly
you just forget about it. There are other things to think about: Does my wife
love me? Why does she laugh a little too loud at my jokes when I know they aren’t
that funny or what am I going to do with the rest of my life?
Things other than light bulbs take up our
time, which is not unreasonable.
Anyway, there I was standing in the light
bulb section gazing fondly at wattage. From the way I looked you might think I
was a collector of electric postage stamps and was just adding some very rare
ones to my collection. Two 100 watt bulbs would be very adequate, but then I
got to thinking why not go for some dramatic lighting like 150 watt bulbs?
That would really be something to see when
I turned them on at night for the first time. The barn would explode in light
like a Broadway play.
I liked that idea a lot, and then I saw
some 200 watt bulbs. My heart almost skipped a beat like a critic falling in
love with a play.
200 watt bulbs!
What an opportunity for fun!
I could light up my Montana redwood barn
just like Times Square. Why settle for a Broadway play when you can have one of
the world’s most famous theater districts in your barn?
I bought the two bulbs with an eager
anticipation for the next day when I would put them in the barn and the next night
when I would turn them on for the first time.
Well, now it’s the day
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