"Alexander Jablokov - Market Report" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jablokov Alexander)

тАЬWeтАЩre working a few things out. A bit of a shakedown period, you might call
it.тАЭ
My parentsтАЩ entire marriage had been a shakedown period. I was just an
interim project that had somehow become permanent. I swear, all through my
childhood, every morning they had been surprised to see me come down-stairs to
breakfast. Even now, my dad was looking at me as if he wasnтАЩt en-tirely sure who I
was.
тАЬWell, to start with, Dad, I guess the problems Stacy and I have been hav-ing
stem from being in the same professionтАФтАЭ
тАЬYou know,тАЭ Dad said, тАЬyour mother still has the darkest blue eyes I have
ever seen.
тАЬShe does have lovely eyes.тАЭ
тАЬCornflower blue, I always thought. Her eyes are cornflower blue.тАЭ
StacyтАЩs eyes were brown, but I guessed my father wasnтАЩt interested in hearing
about that. тАЬCornflowers are not the flowers on corn.тАЭ It had taken me years to
figure that out.
тАЬThatтАЩs right.тАЭ
тАЬSomeone once told me,тАЭ I said, тАЬthat you can hear corn growing at night. It
grows so fast on hot summer nights. A night like tonight.тАЭ
тАЬYou need quiet to hear it,тАЭ he said. тАЬYou donтАЩt like quiet, do you, Bert?тАЭ He
was already looking for an argument. тАЬYou canтАЩt market quiet.тАЭ
тАЬThatтАЩs where youтАЩre wrong,тАЭ I said. тАЬThereтАЩs an ambient recording you can
buy of corn growing. Cells dividing. Leaves rustling. Bugs, I donтАЩt know, eat-ing the
leaves. That little juicy crunch Call it a grace note.тАЭ
тАЬAnd so you play it over your Home Theater system. With subwoofer, side
speakers, the works? Pour yourself a singlemalt, sit back, relax?тАЭ
тАЬYou donтАЩt listen to ambient, Dad. You let it wash over you. Through you.
The whole point of modern life is never giving your full attention to any one thing.
That gets boring. So you put the corn in the CD stack with the sound of windblown
sand eroding the Sphinx, snow falling on the Ross Ice Shelf, the relaxing distant
rattle of a horde of lemmings hitting the ocean, pop open your PowerBook to work
some spreadsheets, and put a football game on the giant TV. YouтАЩll get the Oneness
thing happening in no time.тАЭ
тАЬAre you getting it?тАЭ he asked softly. It wasnтАЩt like his regular voice at all.
тАЬThe Oneness. Whatever it is youтАЩre looking for.тАЭ
тАЬThere was a time when I was so close I could taste itтАжтАЭ
тАЬBertram! There you are!тАЭ Had my mother just come out of the woods? She
was knotting the sash of a fluffy white terrycloth robe, as if sheтАЩd just stepped from
the bathroom. Her gray hair was cut close to her scalp. She looked great. She always
had. Even rubbing sleep out of her eyes, her feet bare. She still painted her toenails, I
noticed, and they werenтАЩt even chipped. тАЬFranklin, werenтАЩt you going to go get him
a tent?тАЭ
тАЬI was,тАЭ my dad said.
She hugged me, then tugged at the sleeve of my jacket. тАЬIsnтАЩt it a little hot for
wool?тАЭ
тАЬItтАЩs tropic weight,тАЭ I said. тАЬGaberdine.тАЭ
тАЬThe tropics have nothing on Illinois in August.тАЭ With that last shot, my dad
disappeared into the garage.
тАЬFranklinтАЩs right. Here.тАЭ An antique steamer trunk stood on end next to where
the houseтАЩs airconditioning unit poked out of the rhododendrons.