Most Improvised Life readers know that Sally has been occupied lately with the serious illness of a close friend – namely, myself (David Saltman). Now recuperating, I’ve realized something about perfection: in the case of us human beings, it does not mean being super-human or doing everything exactly right. It simply means being normal. When you’ve been visited by the Death Eaters, nothing is more perfect than a cup of tea.

This revelation was amplified in an e-mail correspondence with our friend Tom Ashcraft of Heliotown, a remarkable artist/science researcher who has been featured numerous times on Improvised Life.

Among other things, Tom makes art out of microbes. His Studies on the Themes of Bacteria and Baceriophages (a virus that infects and replicates), are startling for the way they convey the hidden universe within us.

Thomas Ashcraft: Studies on Themes of Bacteria and Baceriophages
Thomas Ashcraft: Studies on Themes of Bacteria and Baceriophages

After I wrote Tom in detail of the furry little microscopic icosahedron called Coxsackievirus B3 that came very close to killing me, and which has laid me up for weeks, Tom cut to the chase:

That particular virus looks sinister with all the extra bells and whistles going on on the capsid. It is easy to see the possibilities of pandemic and nature could flip the switch whenever it wants to thin the species. Which might be past due?

Well, you will get your power back for sure, with some extra patience. Basic daily healthful equilibrium, generally boring and taken for granted, is now a state of thankfulness for me. Counting blessings here.

Do keep me posted.  I maintain an ongoing “Journal of the Plague Year”.  It is a long study.

Your friend,

Tom

Thomas Ashcraft: Negotiations / (inside my body)
Thomas Ashcraft: Negotiations / (inside my body)

 

David Saltman

 

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4 replies on “When Normal Equals Perfect

  1. Poco a poco. Feel better my bro. I love you. And Sally sally sally too. ♥️♥️♥️

  2. It is poco a poco, but definitely moving in the right direction, with many shifts of habit and thinking due to that close call. We are hoping it will turn out to have been a blessing in disguise (as many are).

  3. So glad to hear you are doing well… also recovering here… a cup of matcha, a shower, cherry tomatoes from a friends garden, and reading Sally’s posts….normal is sooo perfect! Thank you, Sally and Sally’s friends!

  4. Recovering there as well? I hope it’s not too serious. It sounds like you are doing the right thing. It is AMAZING what simple pleasures can heal. Wishing you well.

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