Perfect World

The day begins not with screaming alarm clocks and unrelenting snooze buttons, but only when the sleeper is aroused to wakefulness by the soft of sunlight and the fill tilt of rejuvenation. The smell of fresh coffee wafts through the morning air and greets me in its already prepared state. My ever-patient dogs then accompany me outside where we walk along a garden path spilling with fresh blooms in all the colors of the rainbow. Clocks do not exist and we move by the light of the sun and the pull of the earth. Hammocks are placed at random points in the landscape, and napping is encouraged and respected. Neighbors wave a cheerful “Hello” while tending to their yards. Postal trucks only deliver good news to mailboxes, and their engines, along with all other vehicles, play soft classical music instead of the grinding of a motor.

Conversations are meaningful, and everyone is allowed to finish their sentences without interruption by someone else’s impatience. Handwritten letters replace e-mail as epistolary treasures, and the rules of capitalization and punctuation are commonplace since one never dreams of writing a 15-line run-on sentence. An old social convention of refraining from discussion topics of politics or religion outside of close relationships is revered once again. Race, creed, gender, color, and orientation are seen as glorious characteristics that benefit the beauty of the human race rather than used as weapons for one group to feel superior to another. Everyone is given six weeks a year to explore other lands and connect with people outside their familiar circles.

Children never know an emotion more painful than the sting of being told by mindful parents that they must finish their school work before they can go play in the safe