Writers Write
Apples and Peaches
November 1, 2020
I recently spoke to an insurance adjuster on the phone about a roofing problem. After we took care of business, he randomly started telling me how he was an only child, and his wife could not understand some of his behavior because she came from a family of four children. I listened politely, but inside, I was only thinking of leaving the conversation as soon as possible. The reason for the telephone call had ended, and I didn’t see any reason to prolong it.
The next day, I had to go to the Minor Emergency clinic because a cut on my thumb seemed to be getting infected. After the doctor looked at my thumb and prescribed antibiotics, he started telling me about the time he was trying to discharge a patient, but the patient’s sister kept insisting that her brother needed to stay in the hospital. Again, even though I listened to him, I was selfishly thinking about how soon I could leave the clinic.
Neither the of these stories related to anything about the purpose of my phone call or doctor visit, so at first, I didn’t see what was right before me. I was like the “Son of Man” painting of Rene Magritte where the man has a green apple covering his face. Neither the “Son of Man” nor I could not see anything past the apple, his literal and mine figurative.
As I pondered why my time with these professionals was prolonged unnecessarily, I finally removed the apple and saw that I had been given a gift. Both of the stories had a peach of an idea within them, a peach which could inspire my future writing. I was reminded of the verse about Saul/Paul in in Acts 9: 18, which says, “And immediately the scales fell from his eyes, and he received sight.” Not that I am by any means in the same category as Paul, and it was apples, not scales, that fell from my eyes. Even so, I traded blindness for inspiration.
I wasn’t thinking of using the adjustor’s or the doctor’s actual stories, but there were certainly tiny germs of ideas present. The adjustor’s story could easily be woven into a romantic tale, although the actual story was only about his wife’s complaints. I could craft the doctor’s tale into a ghost story, although nothing but ordinary humans were part of his story. May we all keep our eyes open to the inspiration all around us!