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NOSTALGIA FOR THE PRESENT The฀mansion฀on฀Wisconsin฀Avenue’s฀been฀restored,฀like฀royalty฀brought฀back฀ to฀England฀after฀the฀plague.฀One฀look฀at฀the฀bright฀brass฀knobs฀and฀it’s฀clear:฀ all฀the฀rats฀here฀are฀dead.฀“And฀voilà,฀the฀coffee฀room!”฀the฀realtor฀says,฀opening฀ a฀glass฀door.฀I’m฀a฀fake,฀of฀course,฀nodding฀speculatively฀as฀if฀I฀just฀happened to฀have฀a฀half-million฀to฀blow฀on฀nine฀bedrooms฀and฀three฀bathrooms,฀ as฀if฀I฀could฀bathe฀in฀more฀than฀one฀tub฀at฀a฀time.฀But฀I฀do฀want฀my฀bed฀ to฀be฀invisible฀at฀breakfast,฀with฀my฀spoons฀stored฀far฀from฀my฀shoes:฀ distances฀ensure฀that฀waking฀and฀walking฀can฀proceed฀apace,฀that฀my฀life, unlike฀my฀apartment,฀hasn’t฀collapsed฀into฀a฀small฀dense฀cube฀of฀time฀ and฀space.฀Better฀not฀to฀know฀too฀much฀physics,฀I฀want฀to฀tell฀the฀realtor.฀ Better฀not฀to฀know฀who฀lived฀in฀this฀house฀before฀it฀was฀restored,฀ when฀it฀was฀adrift฀in฀the฀world฀between฀the฀wars.฀The฀rich are฀exactly฀like฀you฀and฀me,฀only฀their฀house฀is฀empty฀and฀the฀rings฀ where฀the฀cat’s฀cream฀sat฀has฀been฀sanded฀away.฀And฀their฀house฀ will฀outlive฀us฀all;฀it฀is฀richer฀than฀any฀human฀portfolio,฀basking฀in฀the฀luxury฀ of฀silence,฀of฀limestone฀pulled฀from฀mines฀in฀Indiana.฀Go฀to฀Indiana and฀the฀holes฀remain:฀filled฀with฀water฀like฀the฀pools฀Zen฀monks฀use to฀reflect฀on฀the฀poverty฀of฀matter. 7 ...

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