STORY
Harlan's Haircut

Harlan cuts his hair 13 times per year. Each time he brings his greying beard or goatee (however it may be manifested) down to a (#1) greying stubble. He attaches combs measured to the millimeter to his electric trimmer and systematically sweeps through his hair, filling a dust-pane nicely in less than 5 minutes. Relative to most men, Harlan is highly efficient and self-sufficient. Give him some well made tools and some hard wood and he will make you something with dove tails and tongues and groves all held together by polished wooden pins or something. Or give him some average looking tiles and he will turn them into odd assymetrical forms set in carefully balanced patterns. As we can see in this picture though, Harlan will not be satisfied with his succinct haircut without Marilyn’s help. None of us would be satisfied without help from others. When we reach the limits of self-sufficiency (which is often) our helplessness and frustration drive us to seek satisfaction from others. All of us, even Harlan - the classic independent man, need help. It seems as though we can either be intrigued with or resent life for doing this to us. In the end, we can become more or less competent, but not less helpless.

Last weekend we flew into New York on a Jet Blue airplane, we slept in late on an air mattress enjoying the natural gloom of a subterranean apartment, we played helplessly with Eve and Eden, practiced our Spanish with them and let them satisfy our desire to laugh and cling to instinctual words and actions. We crammed into the Barnharts’ ageing teal Honda hatchback and laughed at each other, talked about what we thought, what we saw or didn’t see, and why we imagine we do what we do. We didn’t need to wish for the desirable to happen we just had to wait for it to occur.

We have friends who fill out certain needs in our lives that are hard to define but easy to feel. Traveling and observing the world, living a well-balanced life alone in the sunshine is very fulfilling in ways – but it remains incomplete at least for now. We still need friends with which we share funny stories and quirky dreams and who call us uncle and aunt when they talk about us to their children.