Blank, absolutely nothing in my brain worthy of hunting and pecking all weekend. Usually the thought engine will just fire up an image or a cloud of text but, nothing, just clean dry slate with not a single word ready to drop down on to it.

Fair enough, I'll just type in a quota of a few hundred words and see if they make any sense. Burgess Meredith is my hero not because of his freaky  appearances in the Twilight Zone but for his unforgettable portrayal of the "Old Man In The Sea" Is there any better movie about man's inner struggle with himself than this. Oh, Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab is pretty magnificent. Either way, both of these epic classic's deal with a man's search for strength and  meaning. Burgess was a well respected fisherman that suddenly couldn't catch a fish to save his life. He went dry for 84 days straight before launching himself headlong into an inevitable quest to conquer his inner demons. Gregory also was on a similar mission to slay his nemesis which was really the madness in his own mind. Sure, it was the White Whale of all tales that got to him first but you could sense as the chase progressed it was something bigger and darker than the theft of a lower limb. 

Does this have anything to do with having writers block? Can't catch a fish when you usually do it in your sleep. Can't find piece of mind lurking somewhere back there behind an image taunting with his fishy finger"haa ha ha haa ha, you can't get me" How is it you can live and experience life to the point of being considered a real man of the world-like the Dosequez beer guy; the most interesting man in the world! Then for whatever reason you just start drawing blanks or worse being possessed about things that question what you have already proven time and time again. Proven to yourself and all those who matter all of your capable life. Then, for some strange biblical mystery,like the parting of the Red Sea, duh! I can't think of anything! Or, your Mr. "Steady as She Goes" for the first half of your conscious life when all of a sudden-you need to be exorcized!!! 

On a more serious note, I know writers block is not remotely in the same category as  " bringing home the bacon" so to speak So, are the souring thoughts initiated by a single or string of uncommon failure? "Are my senses failing?, am I loosing my touch?, have I just been lucky all these years?"  Or, "have I failed to honor thy Lord for the rich's bestowed upon my meager thoughtless self?" "Could I have traipsed upon my fortunate astrological face of destiny causing the stars to realign against me?" Could be any of the above I guess.

Ever see a relief pitcher (baseball) called in at the 9th inning with a three point lead. Tall, young,, lanky gum chewing confidence you could expect from a proven kid groomed through the ranks of Peewee's, Little League, High School then straight to the "big show" he's so god darned good! You don't see this often, but if you have you know what I'm talking about. You want to crawl under a rock for the poor kid, or call his parents and explain how it happens to the best of em!  Yep, walks three straight batters.Unfamiliar doubt is beginning to find a new home. Then, the blinks, adjustments to the belt and shirt, multiple rubs on the brow, hat in hand. Couple more balls thrown without a strike and you can see the wheels coming right off the cart. Neck extending and twisting as if trying to dislocate from it's shoulders, brushing off the catcher's signals more times than they have number of different pitches. BANG! Next pitch is hung up in the fat part of the strike zone so badly the swing and the hit look as if it's entirely in slow motion. For that matter everything is rolling in slow motion. You scan the different area's of expected grief and jubilation within nano seconds. Pitcher-hands on his head watching the ball shrink finally turning and kicking the dirt. The slugger jumping around the bases throwing fists in the air. The entire stadium going nuts!!! Poor kid.... 

Would this baseball calamity be easy to recover from?  Not a single fish for 84 days for arguably the most experienced fisherman of the fishing village, difficult? Took your leg and your dignity in your first bout when you were clearly favored with all your high tech harpoons and short boats,revenge at any cost?