Penance

 

In saying, “Go and sin no more,”

Jesus was not speaking of sinless

perfection. He was warning against

a return to sinful lifestyle choices.

As a child and young man, as a

Catholic going regularly to Confession

at the time, after the priest gave me

my penance, he would repeat those

words Jesus was reported as saying.

“Go and Sin no more.”

I was a pathetic wretch who couldn’t

seem to master the fine art of sinless-

ness. Week after week, I tried to apply

that sage advise, but always came up

short. Not that my sins were all that

grievous, but you know, a little lie here

and there, a bad word or lascivious

thought were my typical

weaknesses.

Well, as I aged, I skipped the Con-

fession thing, quit going to church

altogether. I even managed to drop

my belief in a righteous Supreme

Being. With all the world’s problems,

why in hell would He or She be con-

cerned with me flipping someone off?

No need for you or anyone else to

worry about my departed soul being

lost for eternity, I still believe whole-

heartedly in good over evil.

And I have come to realize, through

the aging and experiential processes,

that with all the disabling and limiting

factors which beset old folks, most

sinning, especially the physical kind

becomes far less possible.

Living alone exponentially min-

imizes many problems such as

fighting with, slapping around

and cursing at others.

The point I’m making here is that

the older and more disabled one

becomes, the less likely are the

chances for outright sinful behavior.

As a hopeful youth seeking reform,

all my sinful ways needed was a

healthy dose of patience. You know,

as the old adage goes—good things

come to those who wait.

Long story short, I’m old, disabled

and alone. I’ve lost my appetite

and physical facilities for sin. My

non-theist belief has not wavered,

but I do believe in penance and

the you’ll-get-yours karma thing.

My crappy and waning physical

and mental condition are proof

of that. In life, not in death,

I can say for sure, penance

and pay-backs are hell.

               -30-

Chris Hanch 6-9-2021

Something About the Sun

 

When we notice the sunrise and sunset

we are amazed. If not for the sun we

would not survive here on Earth. Most

days though, unless it’s too hot or too

cold, we ignore the sun and its glorious

rays.

93-million miles is a long, long way

to or from the sun. At 186-thousand

miles per second, it takes sunlight some

8-minutes to reach us here on our

little grain of sand planet.

Except for astronomers, regular folks

like us ignore the sun most of the time.

It takes nightfall or a total eclipse to

remind us of the sun’s importance in

sustaining our lives.

Don’t look at the sun with the naked

eye, we are told. Get too close to the

sun, and its thermonuclear ovens

will fry you. The sun gives life and

sight, and the sun can take all of it

away. Any closer or farther away

and it’s fire or ice.

Some people here on Earth pose

the same threat. Unfortunately,

we are reminded of that most

every day. And from that travesty,

due to gravity and proximity, some-

times there is no escape.

                 -30-

Chris Hanch 6-8-2021

Forecast Today (for Fred Broski)

 

Footsteps from the woman in the

apartment upstairs. The man next

door is off to work at the grocery

store. The dog barks at sudden

noises in the early morning.

Coffee is hot and the first cigarette

of the day is lit. Everything seems

normal. Plenty of sun and high 70s

forecast today.

The Russians occupy the Crimea

Region of Ukraine. The cease fire

between Hamas and Israel in Gaza

holds despite the clash in Jerusalem.

Japan's lower house slams Myanmar

Coup, calls for return to democracy.

A second cup of coffee and another

cigarette.

The man next door needn’t worry

about the traffic jam at rush hour

headed East on I-435. He rides his

bike to work every day sunshine or

rain. The dog barks at 7:30 when he

leaves his apartment and again at 5:45

when he returns.

In the meantime 15-cigarettes have

gone up in smoke.

Very few are paying attention, but

somewhere underlying out there

are those who claim that in this

day and age algorithms come into

play.

For others it’s just another day.

And although it’s negligible,

even Fred, the retired weather-

man will tell you, on any given

day, there’s always a 20% chance

of rain.

               -30-

Chris Hanch 6-8-2021

Roads Unknown

 

Poet, Robert Frost, took “the road less traveled.”

Baseball Hall of famer, Yogi Berra, suggested

when coming to a fork in the road, “take it.”

Early on in life when I was able to choose for

myself, I took Roads Unknown. Why on Earth

would I do such a thing, you may be asking?

Because the road I was on was not working for

me and something had to change.

For better or worse things eventually lead to

where I needed to be at any given time and place.

I found that my staying in one place too long was

a big mistake.

Roads Unknown proved to teach me what I needed

to grow experientially and emotionally. Art, photog-

raphy and poetry became my tools of expression.

This is the life I see, perceive, feel and portray today.

Tomorrow with a new canvas, my style or take on

things is bound to change. For me, living a life of

relative sameness and false security was never

meant to be.

When people I have known expressed that I have

myriad artistic styles and present a wide and varied

diversity, it all makes relative sense, you see.

Athens, Greece, Sydney, Australia and Camp Point,

Illinois, sadness and joy, depression, drunkenness and

sobriety were Roads Unknown which provided a world

of inspiration for me.

Fortunately, for the most part, even the people I’ve

met along the way did not present a boring black and

white portrait of innocuous uniformity.

                        -30-

Chris Hanch 6-6-2021

My Snarky Profession

 

My Internet Service is down

which means no Facebook or

e-mail until it’s up and running

again.

Being home bound restricts

me from contact with the outside

world. I still have my cable TV,

but that’s a one-way street with

less than stellar movies, lame

programming and the ever dis-

couraging national and interna-

tional news.

I suppose it’s healthier for me to

break the cycle of crap once and

awhile. At the moment my inspira-

tion for writing is on the skids,

and there are no topics which

appeal to me. So, I suppose that

I shall dwell in the Limbo Land

of my dry spell until technology

or the muse once again prevail.

I have decided to review a batch

of cartoons I rendered back in the

mid 1970s and early 80s while

employed with King Radio in

Olathe, Kansas. I was a material

planner at the time which here

again reminds me of how boring

and mundane life can be.

Under cover, I drew funny little

cartoons while reviewing and

requisitioning component elec-

trical and electronic parts.

As with most businesses, King

Radio had lots of things going

on which made good subject

matter for witty and sarcastic

commentary. Silly drawings

was the perfect media for me

to illustrate inanely stupid typical

corporate practices.

Anyway, I managed to fulfill

my creative bent. And fellow

co-workers appreciated my

efforts as well. I posted my

work daily on the wall in

front of my desk for the

whole world to see, includ-

ing management who never

had the balls to acknowledge

any of it.

The cutting content was such

that I could have been fired

for mocking management,

their policies and practices

with my unapologetic insolence.

I survived seven and a half

years applying my snarky

unsolicited editorializing

along with minimally ful-

fillig my official duties as

a material planner.

Eventually, I broke the

restraining shackles of

the corporate world, and

went on not to fame and

fortune, but renown in

certain circles regarded as

an unappreciative smart-ass.

Although I’ve tried my

best to excel in that field

of endeavor, to this day

as far as I’m aware, there

are still no awards recog-

nizing that illustrious

profession.

           -30-

Chris Hanch 6-4-2021

Way Out on a Limb, So to Speak

 

I’m going to go way out on a limb today.

That as a figure of speech is easy for me

to say. I haven’t climbed a tree since I

was a kid many years ago.

Now, I am 74-years old and need a

walker just to make it across the room.

Besides, even if I were able, I wouldn’t

physically go way out on a limb for I am

afraid of heights.

Glued securely to the firmly grounded

trunk of the tree, holding on for dear

life is more likely commensurate with

my speed.

Call the damned fire department, I’m

frozen with fright and can’t let go. In the

first place climbing a tree at all would be

an impossibility for me, literally

speaking that is.

                  -30-

Chris Hanch 8-3-2021