Lamp Post: Welcome to the neighbourhood
Me: Thanks, it'll take a while, but we're settling in.
LP: It looks like you've got your bedroom sorted. I can see through your blinds from up here. Sorry.
Me: Well you are quite high up. As long as the neighbours can't see.
LP: They probably can't. They're a lot lower. I don't keep you awake at all, do I? I mean, if I can see you, my light must shine in.
Me: I suppose you did a bit, at first, but I'm used to it now. It's actually quite conforting. Reassuring, you know; being in a new place and all. I can recognise where I am when I wake in the night. I can even find my way to the loo if I need to go. Because the bathroom here is in completely the wrong place and it was a bit disorienting when we first moved in.
LP: I don't have that problem.
Me: Going to the loo?
LP: Walking.
Me: Ah no. I guess you don't.
LP: I just stand here and glow, you know. Never go anywhere.
Me: Do you miss it? Moving?
LP: You don't miss what you never had. Besides, I can talk to my cousins all over town and they tell me what's happening.
Me: You can? How?
LP: Well if there's an emergency we can flash on and off, but mostly we just use the underground links. We're all on the electricity grid, so we're all connected.
Me: What kind of emergencies do lamp posts have?
LP: Vandals, floods, lots of stuff really. Careless drivers are quite a problem for some of my relatives. But mostly life is just the regular switching on at dusk and switching off in the morning, so we just chat about the weather and if we'd like a new paint colour, that kind of nonsense. If you listen carefully on a quiet night you'll be able to hear us hum.
Me: I think I might have heard that some times. Never occurred to me that it was a conversation. How are you talking to me?
LP: Well we hear a lot up here you know. People don't notice us unless we go wrong, so most of the time we can listen in to what they're doing. And loads of people meet under lamp posts, we act as beacons so it's easy for you.
Me: Maybe I should take car about what I say in future.
LP: Bit late now!
And the lamp winked just once.
64 Million Artists January Challenge Day 1
Conversations with a lamp post - Jess Thom
Having Tourettes Syndrome means that Jess notices details in the world that she might not otherwise. This includes chatting to the lamppost outside her bedroom window every night! Have a conversation with a familiar object in your area. What will you say to it? What will it say back? Capture your conversation in writing or a doodle. #TheJanuaryChallenge #64MillionArtists
