Subject to the Wind

Out walking before dawn this morning, I saw what I thought was a darting mouse crossing the road.

The mouse rushed forward, closely hugging the ground, then it stopped suddenly—seemingly to reconnoiter—and then it rushed forward again. As I approached, however, the mouse reared its back and seemed ready to flee in the opposite direction.

Then it settled down. A slight uplift in the wind skittered it forward—for it was a leaf, only a leaf.

An honest mistake, I say, for leaves are particularly animated.

From buds they leaf-out, and from that point to the end of their existence they are subject to wind. In their prime, they are beautiful ensigns fluttering from a billowing ship. In a great wind, they show their under-leafs saucily—making me thing of French Can-Can girls!

I am here this morning—to orient myself in Space and Time—drinking my Peets coffee. Here (Space) is my place, and Time is the date above—but no use really trying to get a fix on that. No use triangulating it, or capturing it in a quadrangle, for it too, like the leaf, is purely subject to wind.

Peets Coffee, however, seems have a great deal more fixity than a leaf, or a scribbler’s fatuous musings. It can be found on a regular basis at NE 15th and Broadway in Portland, Oregon.

Don’t think. Just be—though subject to the wind.