Quote For The Weekend

The whole wide sky of him.

Once the realization is accepted that, even between the closest human beings, infinite distances continue to exist, a wonderful living side by side can grow up, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole and against a wide sky!

            –Rainer Maria Rilke

Driving my son to school, paused at the intersection of Corbin and Sherman Way, barrage of rain on the minivan, wipers working at top speed, I glanced at the DIY carwash on the corner. Lo! An SUV was in a slot, being soaped. Washing your car in a rainstorm. Only in LA?

As I left the supermarket, scrunched under my umbrella, tucked into my coat and scarf and big boots, rain a waterfall of smarting pellets—a small, 200 pound woman spilling out of her short-shorts and tanktop used her shopping cart like a scooter. Wheeeee! she cried, soaring across the parking lot, utterly drenched. Wheeee!

Driving home from Trader Joe’s, wipers about to fly off their hinges from unaccustomed use, red light at Canoga and Van Owen. Road builders! my son shouted joyfully at the mess on the corner and just as he said this a thirty-ish looking man wearing a backpack and no hat in the deluge charged an orange traffic cone. As we watched (watchers included: myself, my son, the road builders huddled miserably under their canopy, jaws slack), the man jumped the cone successfully. On he galloped, to the bustop. When I drove by him, his proud smile was still in place. I honked. My son laughed. Thunder.

About PB Rippey

7th generation Californian, thalassofile and writer living in the mountains near Los Angeles. I write fiction (contemporary women's), poetry, and middle grade eco-fiction. I'm an active member of SCBWI. Long live my mini-zoo of pets. pbrippeywrites.com
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2 Responses to Quote For The Weekend

  1. writenaked says:

    “Loving the distance” is such a great perspective. Reminds me of one of my favorite films, Before Sunrise. Celine’s character says she thinks the only magic that exists in the world is the space between people–the “attempt” at connecting.

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