GENESIS REVISITED

Last night and this morning it rained like in Genesis, so I began assembling materials and selecting two of each of the animals, a male and female when I could find them, otherwise forget it, who has the time these days? Quite a job while it lasted, you've got to do the best you can in trying times, and I was out in the rain herding wild pigs, pheasants, deer, bears, foxes, dogs, cats, frogs, ladybugs etc., and yes, in case you're wondering, mosquitoes too, you've got to be fair in such things and hold no prejudice when justice is in your hands, you've got to be as godlike as you can be under stress, as I've learned in my years at the office, experience that, monotonous as it was, was really no preparation for the task of culling and loading this variety of life forms, funguses even, and weeds of course (post-deluvian gardeners will kill me), into the ark as it was being hastily assembled from the flotsam and jetsam of modern civilization by E and the kids and other concerned neighbors who were interested in what lay beyond the rain and had read the brochures, we got a couple of doves too to bring back olive branches when it was all over, and packed the big picnic hamper and shoved in the van in case there were any roads left afterwards, and the tv, though I didn't see much future for that, still the kids wouldn't go without it, and all the beer and lots of paperbacks and my laptop, maybe the internet would survive, and soaking wet we christened the craft with the leftover wine and when I finally woke up it was POURING rain and I was a half-hour late, with rivers on the road and the train at 1/3 speed. It's these kinds of experiences that make waking working life tolerable, and believe me, Noah has my sympathies.