The Flat Tire: Drawing from the Well of Insight

The Flat Tire

     The weather has been cold. I take off work, just a little bit earlier than usual. My car feels really bumpy going down the alley, but I figure its the cold weather..all the way down the street, across the river and up the hill the car still feels bumpy and somewhat out of control.

   Then I realize something is wrong and I pull into a gas station.

Sure enough my tire is completely Flat, down to the rim. I go in and feel very uncertain about what I am going to do ?? The soda pop guy is there, his big truck blocks the air machine, so that's not use to me..my tire is beyond help anyway... I get advice on what to do next....so there I am within the walls of the philosophical labyrinth..wondering and wandering...trying not to feel too anxious and realizing that despite the nitty gritty nature of all this, the philosphical insights may be what matters most..

   I tell the guy behind the counter that I will just have AAA come there and I tell him " You will get drawn!" and sure enough after I make my calls I pull out my sketchbook and start drawing. It's a balmy day, almost tropical about 29 degrees compared to the COLD frigid below zero weather we have been having so it won't take long for AAA to get there... I draw Eddie, a cute young guy and ask him about his work..and there as I draw him the day after the Power Ball tickets were sold out of there like hotcakes, I realize this is my gift..to draw such an ordinary situation and to draw this young guy who's glad to be working in a part of town that isn't as tough and rough as other places he's worked....perhaps the gift is just to start drawing the places I pass by...and to prod a tiny story out of someone..and perhaps to really surprise them by drawing..

such a simple act and such a great way to be invisible...and to perceive...I wait..I draw..I eye the Power Ball machine thinking I should have bought at least one ticket...but I didn't and my dreams of money like those of so many others are like the frigid air vaporizing on a cold day...

    My AAA guy comes and puts the spare on...I draw him too as he efficiently takes care of the tire....I rip my drawing out of my book and give it to him..he is surprised and happy to be receiving a drawing from nowhere...I feel my invisibility and my joy in giving something so simple away....

    I drive on my lumpy bumpy tire...musing as I go on my way to work that the greatest gifts are the ones that come inside of supposed misfortune and bad timing..the tough times always reveal something..... I drive on my way and at the end of the day pull into a gas station where I end up having to buy a new tire....my insight falters...and I am simply glad for the smooth ride driving home...