Tomatoes and Eggnog and Thunder

This morning, I was on a flight from Washington, DC to Dallas. I was scheduled on a flight that left DC at about 11:30 am, but realized I had scheduled a conference call for 1:00 pm Central time...and my flight was not scheduled to arrive in Dallas until after 1:30 pm. So, I tried to get on an earlier flight. I was successful in getting a middle row seat just 10 minutes before take-off. Because the overheads were completely packed, I had to cram my carry-on under the seat in front of my. I was carrying an overcoat and wearing a sports jacket...no place for either of them, so I wore my sports jacket as I sat holding my overcoat. Rather miserable, but I got back in time to participate in a conference call with three client association board members and an applicant for membership who the board members suspected of being a shady character. I had been put in the position of being bad-guy to the applicant and had to ask him the tough questions and explain to him that we were very suspicious of him and why. All very uncomfortable.

Back to the flight. As I was sitting uncomfortably in the middle seat, a scene started developing in my mind. A character in a story I might write appeared in there (in my brain) somewhere. He was explaining to someone the appearance of the sky just before a massive storm erupted. He said, "The sky. It was tomatoes and eggnog and thunder." I know that sounds absurd, but I began trying to paint the picture in my mind and I think I was able to get a good visualization of what the sky looked like and why he described it that way. Better yet, I was able to construct (in my mind, at least) a plausible explanation of why that description was apt. It wasn't an explanation, so much, as it was creating a series of scenes in my head that made the description seem appropriate.

Certain phrases seem to stick with me. My own creations (e.g., "Thinking across time in foreign languages," and "Tomatoes and eggnog and thunder") sometime resonate with me for no apparent reason, but I'm more apt to take a liking to phrases that are, in my experience, unusual and powerful and provocative (e.g., "the game is not worth the candle"). I wish I hadn't deferred my interest in language for so long. I remember being extremely interested in literature in high school and college. I enjoyed college courses about Shakespeare and creative writing and English composition. I liked my literature classes. But I succumbed to the notion that knowledge in those areas would never get me a job and would only nourish my mind and soul...but not my body. So, I guess I bought the idea that the body is more important than the mind. That's so completely wrong, I think now.

Ah, well. Tomorrow it's back to the miseries of dealing with idiots. I'm about to resign one of our tiny accounts...the chief volunteer leader is asking for way too much and is being nasty to my staff. Life's too short. The bitch will learn tomorrow that I've reached geezerhood and I won't put up with it.

Enough for now.