On Sunday mornings Leonid enjoys life and coffee at a sidewalk table in the downtown square. He enjoys coffee there on most days, but he usually only enjoys life on Sunday mornings. Most other days he scratches and eeks out a meager living selling life insurance. He can tell you, if you ask, how he ended up here. "My father made cabinets in Russia," he would begin. "Then he brought us here." It's a long story, but worth hearing if you have the time.
Leonid sits and watches the starched and pressed people from downtown condominiums parade past his table on their way to perfectly respectable Presbyterian and Methodist churches. These are not mystics. These are not seekers. These people must make an appearance. They must make connections.
"Life insurance is a paradox for God," Leonid likes to tell religious people. "God wants two things for people: He wants them to be poor and he wants them to suffer. Life insurance, therefore, puts God in an awkward position. Don't you agree?" Leonid doesn't really believe this, but he finds it a funny thing to say. Most people do not agree with this assessment.
Leonid wants a fiery love in his life, a smart woman with whom he can argue and reconcile, a woman he cannot fully contain. Leonid wants two smart friends, one politically-minded and one philosophical, with whom to drink coffee. Leonid wants a son who is a better man than he is, more respectable and more handsome. Leonid wants a daughter who loves him more than he deserves. Leonid has none of these things, but he is not bitter. Leonid does not feel that life owes him such blessings. He understands the economies at work around him. He understands the dearth of resources he commands.
If I wrote a song for Leonid I would use guitar and violin. It would be complex and wild, but a little sad. It would end with a soft chuckle, barely audible. It would not be your favorite song, but you would want to hear it from time to time. You would like the way it made you feel. Leonid is like that. In my mind, he is like that.
Hello, friends. How are you today?
Later. Love.
