Utagawa Hiroshige[a] (歌川 広重) or Andō Hiroshige[b] (安藤 広重)
Kanbara: Evening Snow (Kanbara, yoru no yuki),
from the series “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido
(Tokaido gojusan tsugi no uchi),” also known as the Hoeido Tokaido
(c. 1833/34)

"…teetering on the edge of some tragic change in fortune if I cannot get this tendency under better control."

I heard myself proclaiming that I have been doing that fabled deer-in-the-headlights reaction one better, for I’ve been frozen as if caught in headlights on a dark forest road WithoutHeadlights present. I suspect that this reaction might not be classified as a talent, though I also imagine that it might, like deer’s reaction to bright lights, offer some evolutionary benefit, or used to offer one, before cars made such interactions dangerously commonplace. I can’t tell which of my native responses to such perturbations are positive ones and which might be more dangerous, though I carry opinions. I usually feel guilty when I notice that I’m frozen WithoutHeadlights again, as this must be a snowflake’s response signifying something shameful. I imagine myself more powerful, and capable of shrugging off most threats, though in real life, my vulnerabilities continually surprise me. I occasionally qualify as a superhero, but fleetingly, and only ever in my own mind.

This passing summer has been a struggle for me.

Tags: #Prosperity, #PureSchmaltz