Today is the air that you wear. The kind of air that fogs your glasses and the glass in the door to the Writing Porch. It dawned on MJ and me a few months ago that a small table to put our coffee cups on and the television remotes would be nice, sitting between our two chairs. We like little tables. Little tables are fun. So we set our sights on searching for a small table. We were a bit like Goldilocks in “Goldilocks And The Three Bears,” as some were too tall and some too short, and finally we found one that was just right. It came today, and now Christmas is in July.

Life takes time and requires copious patience. We ordered the little table in April. Craftsmanship is a slow and detailed process. Fernie told me many years ago that I could forget pressure washing her house, as she had asked MJ to ask me a day before, and I had not done it yet. When I explained that I was preparing to call her and say that I would do it Saturday, as I didn’t have to work. She laughed and said, ‘I want what I want done quickly, but I guess you can still do the job. All jobs for my Mother-In-Law were, of course, free. So it goes with our impatient projections for our future. Our lives are not neatly wrapped in a Christmas package with a pretty red and green ribbon on top. Life can be messy.

Success is incremental. No matter if you are kicking a habit or losing weight, perseverance is vital. As we struggle for the goal or prize, mistakes and reversals happen regularly. ‘I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong…’ Or as the story of the Tortoise and the Hare illustrates, slow and steady wins the race.

‘I have been watching the leader, and he says one thing and does another daily,’ Chet said. ‘There seems to be no end to his lies and deceit,’ Chet observed. ‘People follow him blindly without consideration that he is hurting them,’ Chet said softly. ‘Thelma used to tell me that people who do evil are not hidden and that their sin would find them out,’ Chet said of his mother. ‘What is done in darkness will be revealed in light,’ Chet smiled. ‘Unmitigated power is its own ball and chain and shackles from head to foot,’ Chet observed.

‘There seems to be a real propensity to hide from the light,’ Neva J said. ‘When President Nixon was forced out of office, it was the cover-up that did it,’ Neva J noted. ‘Finally, lies turn on the liar and consume them, ‘Neva J warned. ‘Always tell the truth because lies are impossible to remember. Soon you will be crossing up your lies with new lies,’ Neva J winked. ‘Leaders become so full of themselves and their perceived power that they believe nothing can touch them,’ Neva J said. ‘Someone is always watching and waiting and remembering,’ Neva J promised.

Hope endures through the darkest night. The Craftsman is working to produce excellence. Excellence takes time.