IN AN INCONCEIVABLE KINGDOM

“The world is so full of a number of things,

I ’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.”

-- Robert Louis Stevenson

Indeed, the world is so full of a number of things, all of them thoroughly extraordinary and fascinating,  that I probably should be as happy as a king -- well, not always happy, but certainly something like spellbound. I may not like all the things in this world – I may wish many were very different – but I can’t deny that all things surrounding me are full of secrets and mystery and surprise. The world should seem to me like it seems to a six-year-old – - a startling circus of wonders. One moment here’s the cryptic ticking of my pendulum clock. Another moment here’s the furnace starting with its exceptional sounds, then news in the newspaper of a shocking explosion, then a car comes past the house for all kinds of interconnected reasons. Just the fact that I’m sitting in a certain soft chair on a certain frosty morning feeling slightly sick and wearing a brown-and-beige belt and a watch with a yellow band is cause for astonishment. 

I now need to rise and walk into the kitchen for my coffee. Perhaps I should do it with dignity, like a king in an inconceivable kingdom.