Vitamin A

Solitude's sting lingers like coping with exclusion. Pain is relative.

It's no secret to the regular readers of this blog (with exception to the few random people in Brazil who make regular visits) that its author is searching for companionship. Suddenly alone in a foreign state, Maslow's research strikes a little too close to home. But my life is a ziggurat not a pyramid.

One day I received a text message that changed my life forever. In today's world, courage is often omitted and replaced with technology. After all I could do, and for the first time in my life, I surrendered. I turned to the internet and found a lonely soul. We met. It was awkward. Days later this same Lost Soul expressed a desire to meet again. Now with my wits, I kindly declined. In response, Lost Soul offered me satisfaction in exchange for my friendship. I was appalled.

Maslow's pyramid might tumble without level three, but for a man who built his house upon rock, his pyramid is inverted, it's foundation rooted into the ground. Life isn't a box of chocolates and empty calories. It's much more like a carrot patch.

Fruity People Are the Best

This afternoon at work, I had a few moments to chat with friends online. Breaks have not come often recently, so I decided to multitask. I was chatting AND enjoying a sweet nectarine, cut by mine own hand. In fact, I brought my favorite pocket knife to work in order to cut it. Fruit, to me, tastes so much better when it's cut finely at sharp angles -- which is one reason bananas aren't my favorite -- that's not to say I don't like them, however.

Whilst chatting, my friend mentioned her carefree day near the poolside, where she consumed several cherries. She also mentioned that a mutual friend had a distaste for the small fruit, and she simply couldn't believe it. "Cherries are a mediocre fruit," I told her. The debate was on --

Plain conversation between friends is a blessing under-appreciated --

"Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne're succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need."

Assuming all fruits are equally fresh and ripe, I've compiled a top 10 list. Many fruits can be combined one with another, and many can be added into desserts, pancakes, muffins, and more. All aspects of the fruit, including taste and health, were taken into account.

"Forbidden Fruit a flavor has
That lawful Orchards mocks --
How luscious lies within the Pod
The Pea that Duty locks --"

10. Lime/Lemon
9. Apple
8. Clementine
7. Kiwi
6. Mango
5. Strawberry
4. Huckleberry
3. Pineapple
2. Raspberry
1. Nectarine

Berenice

Today, July 4th, I rose from bed and made pancakes. Then, I attended church. I anticipated too many patriotic testimonies, so I brought a biography of Edgar Allan Poe. Interestingly, his lonely, difficult life caused me to reflect on mine. I had a different kind of spiritual experience ... I think I will attend fast and testimony meetings without a book to read nevermore.

I returned home to a posse of suspicious citizens partying in the apartment complex pool. I walked up the stairs leading to my apartment door. I switched on the air conditioning, gathered my dirty clothes, and headed back down the stairs toward the laundry room on the far side of the pool. I passed the barbecued corn, the limes, and the Gothic tattoos and reached the laundry room door. As I pried it open I heard a caw. The posse turned its head away in time to miss my glance, but the raven's obsidian eyes gazed into mine. The washer started and the charcoal raven took flight over the grill and out of sight.

The persistent heat of Phoenix does not relent for a holiday. And so I relaxed inside as the fireworks celebrated the bringers of victory. This day in my life was simple. I observed The 4th of July in my pajamas, and on my bed I felt a reverence for my Independence forevermore.

I will never forget July 4, 2010. It was a simple day spent with a friend.