The Sunday Whirl

Joe’s strategy was to sit in a recliner, turn on the RED channel, with shows of harshly apprehended thieves, portrayals of some enemy being killed in a far away war—all the angry violent fodder seemingly taking his mind off himself. It was Joe’s way of dealing with the immutable dragon of pain. Every minute of every day Joe had to face the fact that pain was his “best friend” in life.

The way that Joe dealt with it was the extreme opposite of his wife’s attitude. She had built a beautiful water garden, thinking that this was a solution and Joe might use it as an area for meditation. The garden consisted of beautiful rocks, and small trees. Joe could even see a nest of birds, and the air was soft, humid and warm. Joe never did take the hint. After a few minutes of trying to relax in the garden as she asked, he would return to the den, to watch the violence on TV again.

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