Don't Take Me Seriously - Book - Page 139
ESCAPE Weekly
Feb. 25 - March 3, 2011 – 13
Are you stacking stones?
If you want things to last, you need reality cement
W
e’ve all seen them,
stacking stones?
right? I mean those
And, no, I don’t mean literally
stones and small
stacking them. (Though I am
boulders, exquisitely balanced and
thinking about taking that
precariously stacked into works of
party-stacking up — you know,
temporary art. You find them by
combining it with my part time
the side of the road, at prominent
party job as a lawn dart catcher).
sights of natural wonder, in public
What I mean is, are you
gardens and even on the beach
emotionally stacking stones? Are you
where waves very soon undermine
creating fantastic arches of hopes,
the sand below them.
pressed together only by the weight
Now, we’re not ta lk ing about
of your desire?
tra il ma rkers here, nor even,
Now, the visualization of your
usua lly, memoria ls. A nd, no,
wishes is a good exercise, I hear.
t hey a re not lef t for us by a lien
But if your entire arch-of-the-future
space travelers.
is supported by nothing in the real
It would seem these
world — well, you’d
artful stacks are put in
better not stand under it
place by thoughtful and
too long.
Like the “weakest
clever-fingered humans
link,” the most unstable
as a meditation enjoyed
balance point in your
through their creation,
stack of wish-stones
and as momentary
will be where things
monuments to the spirit
fail you f irst — be
— which can resonate in
that yourself, another
those who observe them.
Jim Walker
Or maybe the stackers Don’t Take Me Seriously tragically-f lawed person,
are just showing off. I
a soon-to-be-extinct
mean, there’s at least one
job or spending your
guy who makes his living stacking
remaining savings on lottery
stones at parties.
tickets, “swinging for the fence.”
Let’s look at some notable
He probably has a Ph.D. in
examples where a closer look or a
philosophy to go with.
more reality-based vision might
It is said that, in Buddhism, this
practice of stacking stones is a form have prevented a stack of “stones”
from tumbling in an avalanche of
of worshipping — but it can also
pain or disappointment.
be a gesture of asking or wishing
for good fortune to be bestowed
Investing with Enron
on the stacker and his family. Each
Investing with Bernie Madoff
stone within the stack represents
Investing in Betamax
a particular wish and, possibly,
Trusting Hitler
a particular family member. (I
Trusting Stalin
wonder how many tries you get,
Trusting your luck
with your stack toppling over,
Believing in fate
before you hear the cosmic buzzer
Believing in Y2K
of “forgeddaboutit.”)
Believing in Jim Jones
With all that setting the table,
my question to you is, are you
See WALKER, page 16
PhotoSpin
Family
Meal
$
Kabobs & Salads
19.99
Family Meal Includes:
4 Skewers of Kabob (Beef
& Chicken), Tomatoes,
Pita Bread, Rice, Greek
Salad and Baklava
(Dessert)
Dine-In, Pick-Up or FREE Delivery
27653 Bouquet Canyon, Santa Clarita, 91350
(Haskell Cyn & Bouquet Cyn. in Albertson’s Plaza)
661.263.7445
