On the Edge

"I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center."                                             - Kurt Vonnegut

Wisdom to live by.......so long as we remember the risk involved in living on the edge, even if we think we are staying far enough back that we won't go over.

They said I was living on the edge but I had no idea how that could make any possible sense; I was living in order to enjoy the days allotted to me; I believed an opportunity missed was time lost, not to be recovered.......ever. I wanted to experience every situation presented to me and even some I had to search out.

It was time; heat of day was beginning to rest for the evening; birds were perching in the trees to listen to the peace; sounds of the countryside were quieting; an amazing, vibrant sky slowly built; breezes calmed. Nothing matched the calm or the feelings evoked from this time; days end. The few clouds still floating would soon be concealed by the skies belonging to the setting sun; in the mean time they billowed overhead with a golden hue and a mystery unparalleled.

There was only one place to witness the beauty of this picture and as quickly as I could dawn my hat, I wasted no time getting there. At first I stood atop the peak gazing across the landscape, just taking in the beauty before me; the peace; the smell; the color. Before long I was on the very edge, lost in the magic of this scene; all life seemed insignificant compared to the setting sun I was gazing at. The golden orange glow grew with each passing moment; the clouds mingled and became one with the colors, shapes changed as I looked on; the sun dropped almost quickly enough to see its movement. Mesmerized with the beauty of the glowing fireball, my thoughts began to examine the paradox I might be missing.

It was beginning to crumble away from beneath me as I sat transfixed with the sight to the west of our little village; such reality, yet surreal; such beauty, yet subordinate; so bright, yet sobering; so glorious, yet normal; so powerful, yet delicate. How could one circumstance create such abounding contradiction? Not paying attention to where I sat, the earth silently crumbled away and I found myself sliding down the mountainside, slowly sinking;  being covered with the rocks and debris coming behind me. I remember thinking on the way down "Wow what a ride I have had on the edge" as I sank deeper and deeper and knew I would soon be buried.