I'm standing on a dry hillside. The sun is hot. It's been beating down for the several hours and the wind brings the hot pine smell from the canyons. I love it. It's a warm comfort in my nose. In front of me are three lines of people along ropes. All will be using the strength they have cultivated in their arms and minds. There has been much work to prepare for this day, and I will not pretend that I am a key bolt in the project. I lent my vision, my belief. But this was not my dream.
Ropes creak, tighten, metal groans. Pick-axes and rebar in the dirt as we sit in the shade for a brief rest. A return of hands and the settling of metal as it slowly rises. All quiet except for it's first gurgling breaths. Settling. Counter-pulling. And then three pads of metal rest on the dusty soil of the San Gabriel Mountains, holding up something from a dream.
I know the feeling of a standing ovation. And I've been on the other side clapping many times. I've had my dreams come true. Knowing it even as the dream unfolds. It's just as exciting to experience someone else's dream unfolding. Seeing in their face the radiance of ... manifestation.
There's still a lot of work, planning, transport, preparation and places for things to go awry. But like with any dream, where you've jumped off the cliff, the only step is the one in front of you. That's the irony of the fool card. Yes, you are jumping into an abyss, but that abyss is life.
That's a very sexy photo of you.
Posted by: The Assman Cometh | August 14, 2005 at 10:05 AM