THE NATURAL — by Bernard Malamud (as channeled by Steve Nadis)
At some time or other, we all wonder what we are put on this earth for. I think about that all the time and did not have the answer until today. The answer came unexpectedly, as usually happens with great revelations, and in this case it arrived via email. I found the email this morning after dropping my daughter (quite literally) at her preschool. (Fortunately, she has cat-like reflexes and did not land on her head.) The message came from a friend who recounted the conversation she’d had this morning with her five-year-old daughter. This is a direct transcript of the exchange between the two characters, henceforth referred to as “daughter” and “mother.” Not a single word has been changed, altered, or misspelled.
daughter: Steve sure is a great bike rider.
mother: Yes, he is.
daughter: He’s a natural!
mother: Yes, I guess he is.
daughter: You know, everyone is good at something.
mother: That’s right.
daughter: And with Steve, it’s definitely bike riding!
mother: Absolutely.
Posted by
at
14:57:30
then you probably should take hint
of your calling
and as another FOREST GUMP
begin BIKING around the country.
yeah thats it ,, spread the word by biking,
give us ,your readers more time to do other things
and maybe after youre tired of biking
well all buy youre memoirs
in the big book deal ,, they will propose
(they = publishing houses who agree with the above dialogue)
waddaya say ,,?
be a pal , be a friend ,, do us all a favor .
p.s. think of all the bumperstickers youll
get to see and do things with. =z=
So…”out of the mouth of babes.” Huh, Snake?
But, hey, you forgot to include the rest!
daughter: But, Mom?
mother: yes, honey.
daughter: I don’t think he should EVER play football…
mother:? But why’s That?
daughter: He dropped his daughter yesterday…and she’s my BEST FRIEND!
You’re right MP, they are best friends. And you’re probably right too, Z. I should bike around the country and get off the computer. But I might be too lazy. Or afraid of saddle-soreness. Or maybe the weather will be bad or some other excuse that will keep me from the x-country bike trek.
Clearly, she hasn’t been exposed to your blogging talents. Or maybe she has . . .
I don’t know what she knows or when she knew it. All I can say is that I’ve logged many more minutes on my bike, when you add it all up, than I have on my blog.