Lightning

May 23, 2005

I’ve been thinking about lightning lately. Rainstorms are rarely seen here, though the thunder of lightning’s electric passage can be heard. As are the inevitable forest fires that follow. Alaska is BIG, which is easy to forget when you’ve been here a long time. It’s easy to get focused on the provincial, to act as if the small part that I inhabit is the same as the whole thing. But all I have to do is listen on those cold days to know that lightning is striking somewhere.

Then I came across this quote by Charles Baxter, recounting some words by Ray Carver:

“Raymond Carver once wrote that ‘Writing is trouble, make no mistake, for everyone involved, and who needs trouble?’ But then he went on to say … that now and then lightning strikes, sometimes early in a writer’s life, sometimes late. The lightning follows no particular pattern– there’s no justice in it, of course. But for the lightning to strike at all, you have to stand out in the rain for a while, just stand there, while everyone around you is running for shelter.”

Which is true. Even here. Even for me. Plus I like quotes that embiggen me and my tiny, private efforts…

Tags: At Random