Mar. 06, 2003 - 19:38 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

For Lent

My dear friend Sunny said in her journal something about, "Giving Up Mess For Lent."

What a super keen idea ! Think I'll try it and if it works make it a permanant thing in my life.

Whoa, who do I think is being kidded ? Moi ? Somehow in my fumbling way I can create The Mother Of All Messes in five minutes or less. Bad thing is that I nestle into my messes and get very comfortable. I have my "Pile-its" license with endorsements for mega-messes.

It profits me not. Tending the mulch of unmitigated paper and detritus. No matter how much or how often I turn it over it just doesn't bio-degrade into fertilizer although it has the same generic definition.

I ofter wonder what an archaeologist will think when sifting through the Bastion Midden ?

Dealing with it in the present, although tiresome, is tolerable, I just keep turning it over and over 'til what I want comes to the top.

My early memories of my messes involved water, mud, soaked shoes and socks and muddy pants cuffs.

Later it was pieces and parts of the sundry alarm clocks I had scavenged, main springs all sproinged out.

Then the coaster brake on my bicycle became such a mess that a new wheel and brake came out of my hide.

Finally I joined the work force (or farce) and went into the world of machines, assembly and repair work. Messes of shavings, chips and gallons of coolant abounded in machine land. In assembly were the messes of jumbled parts and fasteners, drills, rivet guns, air hoses and hand tools. In repair work some of all the above was involved except coolant however that was superseded by dirty grease and oil.

You might say that by now I am a professional Mess-engineer (not to be confused with messenger) with a PhD in mess confusion. But peaceful endeavor though, not weapons of mess destruction.

Maybe I should go into the spam industry, 'cause I could make a heck of a lot more mess of it than it already is. Or maybe go into politics -- Naah, now that is too dirty . . . . . .

Whatever the course of affairs, I will not give up mess For Lent . . . . . . . .

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