My Crystal Blog

The winds of change, once but gentle breezes, have picked up over the last several decades. Certainty holds that this trend will continue. What awaits us upon the arrival of the maelstrom is anyone's guess.

I sit in front of my Crystal Blog, concentrating and yet mesmerized by the gossamer images of the morrows to come. It is the near future, tomorrows not far removed from the here and now, that take shape in the swirling mist.

The scene that emerges is contemporary enough to have been yesterday, but I know it is transfixed in some moment yet to occur. When? I cannot tell or know.

A suspicious man pulls up to the sidewalk in front of a public elementary school. His nondescript van is left running. When he emerges from the vehicle, he is cautious as he is looking about the area. He is fearful of any law enforcement presence. Satisfied he is not under surveillance, he removes his hat and wipes his brow. It is an all-clear signal.

Equally as cautious, two young boys appear from behind a stand of tall shrubbery. They produce what appears to be a rather large wad of paper money, and hand it to the man. The cash tucked into a breast pocket, the man slides open the side door of the van and disappears insides. He reappears in a moment carrying a large box wrapped in brown paper.

The money exchanged and the contraband delivered, the boys furtively move back into the safety of the shrubs. The man closes the sliding door and turns to return to the cab of the van. In less than a minute he would drive away, having successfully delivered the package of coke.

There is the sudden wail of sirens as four police cruisers converge upon the idling van. With all avenues of escape blocked, the police apprehend the two lads and subdue the driver of the van. The evidence, the money and the contraband, is seized.

The future is not so unlike the present. There will be drugs. There will be pushers. There will be users. There will be busts. The arrests and the seizure will be in the news in this small community. It will be the talk of the town, the day they busted a man for the illegal distribution of coke. The boys will be remanded to their parents until charges are filed for the possession of the coke on school property.

The community does not take this offense lightly. They will not tolerate on the premesis of its schools any products such as soft drinks, including Coca Cola.

The images on my Crystal Blog have become blurred. There is an ache behind my eyes. It has been a drain on my mind and body. I can only gaze into the Crystal Blog for brief moments at a time. I will have to rest soon. For but a trice, another image of another time was being evoked, but I was unable to focus on it so that I could conjure it forth.

In that future time, there is public debate over recent Supreme Court rulings that allow full frontal nudity in television programming during prime time hours. The Court has decided that in addition to such programming, there must be also a filter to allow families to prevent young children from viewing nudity. The filter will allow parents to lock out certain programs by clicking on the code for "Clothes Captioned For The Nudity Impaired."

No.620