What the...!?

I remember those days when I was a younger man

driving to the same place of work day after day, same

time before 8AM, same place, same streets through

town then down the Interstate, some 15 or 20 miles

away. That sameness became so routine and mundane

that the auto pilot of my brain led the way. The same

scene, the same red light, stop, green light, go, the

trees, each blade of grass in place the same every day.

And when I arrived at work on occasion, I would

reawakened with the thought that here I am once

again, as the years passed, as mountains I didn’t

notice anymore had surely eroded away. The old

adage of having Turned a Blind Eye most fittingly

applied to me. And, by god, that’s a mighty frightful

thing. All those years, all those drives to work day after

day, year after year, everything the same. And today,

in these times of retirement, in this sedentary place

of mine, having nowhere special to go or no one of

particular interest to see, how I got here after seventy

some years in this place of old and gray seems a

profound mystery to me. And these gross and blotchy

age spots on my hands, face and arms, where in hell

did they come from? I never noticed them before. I

guess I’ll just sit here and write something down today.

Let me know if you’ve heard this one before.

Chris Hanch 6-13-18