“You know this Eric,” Uncle Slim said in disbelief when Eric asked the question “is this reality” right after water was pushed through his lips streaming down passed all his glory back into the lake at the shoreline where beyond his naked-baby-man-statue pose and silhouette was a spectacular light show of purple, blue, and orange like the crescendo of a live show but without the screaming and swaying or long driveling notes, instead the sloshing of water with the slipping of sand at each lapping wave and an occasional squawking of seabirds in flight, a reminder of our being grounded and the dreaded long walk back to the studio where the risk of consumption is reduced for naked and wet artists who took the short way into the forest and the long way out to catch a glimpse with their inner eye the fine line of nature’s light show, a show without human input and talent if indeed there is entertainment at the output of nature when we play outdoors wanting to be sequestered from our own dwellings which were built to sequester ourselves from nature as our talents are wasted on home entertainment, entertaining ourselves getting wasted at home instead of walking to the lake and drinking from it only to spit it back out where our eyes see the eye of this world swirl then close before entertainment has us revisiting the dark times of our youth and eventually the dark ages of civilization.
Uncle Slim couldn’t believe it when Eric asked, “Is this reality?” right after water gushed out of his mouth and back into the lake, creating a stunning display of purple, blue, and orange lights in the background. Eric struck another naked-baby-man-statue pose as he stood at the shoreline, enjoying the beauty of nature. The sound of water sloshing and sand slipping accompanied the occasional squawk of seabirds in flight, reminding them that they were grounded and had a long walk back to the studio. The risk of catching a cold was reduced for naked and wet artists who took the short way into the forest and the long way out to witness the fine line of nature’s light show. This was a show without human input or talent. Nature entertained us outdoors, but our talents were wasted on home entertainment. We entertained ourselves by getting wasted at home instead of walking to the lake and experiencing its beauty. As our eyes admired the world, we spit the water back out and felt like we were revisiting the dark times of our youth and eventually the dark ages of civilization.
“You know this Uncle Slim,” Eric exclaimed as reality set in. The two friends were again at the shoreline. One sat there looking out at the incessant fine line, the other was laying down looking up at a brilliant sky. “This is reality,” Uncle Slim responded after the two of them saw the exact same thing but from widely different perspectives.
Francis Erich McElroy 