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Proper Business

by DAN CARVILLE

Value judgments are destructive to our proper business, which is curiosity and awareness. - John Cage

"Let go of it at the end," he said. "Now come here and sit down." David pulled his niece away from the blind.

"Is there any left over?" she said.

"There isn't," David said. "You ate it all." On the television a woman explained how to hold on a knife. He showed Bernice the particulars of operating a hula hoop and looked out the window. It was some kind of regional parade, and shriners bumped into each other.

"It's very loud," he said absently. "I wonder how long they will go on."

The television was communicating the story of an ape who was able to state a logical paradox. He put his head against a decorative pillow for a bit.

When he woke up a man was explained the future significance of the War of 1812. He changed the channel to a documentary about skateboarding. The central figure was describing how to spin so fast you could do a certain revolution at the height of your run.

"It's time to watch Diego," his niece said. He told her to go stand on a stool. In time she became occupied with a bird outside, flapping about the grass. It either couldn't fly or was taking a break. She begged him to let her go to it. While she was in the bathroom he picked up the bird by its healthy wing and dumped it into the next yard. After awhile it flew away.

His sister came back for a bit so he went to the local store to buy some things for dinner. A group of girl scouts knocked over a display revealing a new cheese cracker. One of the scouts held a very determined expression that left little to the imagination. At the supermarket he bought anything he saw which featuring a price not ending in .99.

He couldn't drive his usual route home because a tractor trailer had run into a telephone pole, so he killed thirty minutes at Dunkin' Donuts reading a book. He read, "Which is more musical, a truck passing by a factory or a truck passing by a music school? Are the people inside the school musical and the ones outside unmusical?"

When he returned to the house his sister complained of his lateness. When he explained the situation to her she apologized. His niece went to sleep watching a vet repair the coccyx of a baboon. He turned out all the lights in the house but one.

You have to be at the apex of your jump.

Dan Carville is the senior contributor to This Recording. He is a writer living in New York. You can find an archive of his writing on This Recording here.

Images by Bruce Cohen.

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