Life and Island Times – 02 June 2016

What Was He Looking For

Yesterday was one of those days. He had climbed to the top of that day’s ladder only to discover it was against the wrong wall. It wasn’t that it involved climbing a high mountain or running through a battlefield. Those times were in his past and

were just dots in his rear view mirrors.

In the past he would have despaired over having nothing to show for that day‘s effort. That is just the way it is with scribbling. No longer did he piss and moan about coming up dry.

His ladders in the past had been those of achieving. That changed one spring day a quarter of a century ago.

He had been on his way to Washington DC for an important meeting – one in which people meet with other very important people to talk about important things they believe will change the course of history. It was early and the sun was just

making its entrance over the Potomac River. To the east he could see the Washington Monument bathed in red orange hues. The cherry blossoms were still in bloom around the Tidal Basin.

To the north lay the spires of Georgetown University and beyond that the medieval National Cathedral. Further north he could almost see the worn down mountains that rise above Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, where the Potomac and the

Shenandoah Rivers shake hands before they run together to the Chesapeake Bay.

After a few moments, he decided to pull off and park along the basin.

As he remembers it now, he began to see with clarity something akin to that old saw about having reached the last rung on the ladder only to find that it was up against the wrong wall. The sharp realization was a quick stab – he had been a fool.

Reluctantly, after a bit more reflection he recommenced his journey, showing up late at the meeting.

That was the day he began his descent off of those ladders. Far more lay ahead than he realized at the time.

Copyright © 2016 From My Isle Seat