{"id":3179,"date":"2017-09-12T08:08:32","date_gmt":"2017-09-12T15:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/?p=3179"},"modified":"2017-09-12T08:08:32","modified_gmt":"2017-09-12T15:08:32","slug":"level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/meditations\/level\/","title":{"rendered":"Level"},"content":{"rendered":"

I cruised the beach north to the South Jetty on a bright weekday morning, just after dawn. I was the only one around, not counting the gulls, which I don’t.<\/p>\n

Something orange caught my eye and I moved toward it. Most likely, a child’s sand shovel. Hopefully, not a dildo like the last time I found orange on the beach.<\/p>\n

I dislodged the object from the sand\u2014neither child nor adult toy. It was a level, a cracked-in-half level, but an operational level nonetheless.<\/p>\n

A level! I love levels. In fact, it is about the only handyman tool I know how to use because a human being can’t really make a mistake with it. Just read the bead and go from there. The mistakes come after reading.<\/p>\n

Here I was at sea level and I discovered a level. In my 20 years of rambling the Oregon Coast’s socialist beaches, this was easily my greatest find. The dildo is probably seventh or eighth.<\/p>\n

I did a little jig, continued my walk, and soon got the idea to apply the level to everything in my path: driftlogs, driftwoood rounds, forts, cairns, rocks, the jetty, an empty bottle of Russian vodka and more. I was mad to use my level! And let me tell you something fascinating: nothing around me was level. Absolutely nothing! My level proved that.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The use of the level instigated some uneven wordplay in my mind. At one point, I stopped walking, sat down, played with my level, and leveled out the wordplay into practical consideration and perhaps even metaphorical application.<\/p>\n

Who has been on the level with me?<\/p>\n

Who have I not leveled with?<\/p>\n

Who wants to level with me?<\/p>\n

Have I leveled with myself?<\/p>\n

How many degrees am I off level in my life right now?<\/p>\n

Who or what can help me become level?<\/p>\n

Is there such a thing as a great leveler?<\/p>\n

Do I want to live on level ground?<\/p>\n

Can you create art on even ground?<\/p>\n

Why is level such a sweet sounding word?<\/p>\n

What level is Level 6?<\/p>\n

The Leveling is a great name for a moody rock band.<\/p>\n

How about a science fiction novel where a society evolves on uneven ground and comes into conflict with a society that evolved on level ground?<\/p>\n

Do dogs prefer to romp on level ground?<\/p>\n

Is there a poem or pop song associated with level?<\/p>\n

How in the world did this orange level come to rest in the sand on this beach?<\/p>\n

It was time to go, eat breakfast with the gulls, and build my super fort.<\/p>\n

I would not use the level in the fort’s construction and I would not leave it behind to possibly delight someone else. I was taking it home for my writing studio where I could watch the bead and continue to ponder the meaning of level.<\/p>\n

(If you found this post enjoyable, thought provoking or enlightening, please consider supporting a writer at work by making a financial contribution to this blog or by purchasing an NSP book.) <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I cruised the beach north to the South Jetty on a bright weekday morning, just after dawn. I was the only one around, not counting the gulls, which I don’t. Something orange caught my eye and I moved toward it. Most likely, a child’s sand shovel. Hopefully, not a dildo like the last time I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3180,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,32],"tags":[36,350,6,52,48,13],"class_list":["post-3179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-meditations","category-oregon-beaches","tag-beaches","tag-level","tag-matt-love","tag-oregon","tag-oregon-beaches","tag-oregon-coast","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3179"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3182,"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3179\/revisions\/3182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}