tbc0's posterous

I'm having an orange for breakfast, preparing to attend the funeral of a long-time friend. I thank God for oranges. I used to drink pulpy orange juice daily. Eventually I realized that it was most natural to eat raw oranges. I drastically changed my eating habits a couple years ago. Since then, part of my daily discipline is to eat an orange for breakfast. Often I don't break my fast until lunchtime. Sometimes I break my discipline. No matter. Peeling an orange is a visceral experience. I prefer a tool to break the skin. I cut a meridian, then I cut at 90 degrees. Usually the skin comes off in four pieces. I love the fresh citrus aroma. I love the orange's natural, bite-size sections. I remember oranges being larger and sweeter. Is this climate change at work? If 10 is a perfect orange and 0 is uneatable, I remember eating 8's and 9's last century. Now I rarely find 8's. I have to settle for 5's, 6's, or 7's. I'm eating a 5 today - lacking in juice and sweetness. Below 5 means the orange doesn't even section properly - the membrane tears because it's weak or dry. I've thrown 1's and 2's away because it makes me sad to settle. The world in general right now feels like a 5. My nation is in a malaise. There are bright spots. My industry, high tech, is holding its own. But high tech is aging - at least the test and measurement sector - and it shows. It shows in the gray hair of people I work with (and my own gray hair), and it shows in the metaphorical war-weariness of all who have endured years of layoffs. And that's nothing compared with the real war-weariness of the global Islamofascist threat.

I admire Solzhenitsyn's writing form, the "miniature." I don't have time to polish this miniature. I have work to finish before the funeral. So I have to close here by saying this. I just finished my orange. If 10 is a perfect day and 0 is death, it's hard to make a day with a funeral better than a 5. But Al could be a jovial fellow. His obituary says, "Aloha wear welcome." That will definitely make the day better than a 5. Aloha, Al.