Window Art
Tag: Love
Listen for the wise old owl.
0ne early morning a sign of Spring appeared in the woods. It was a wise old owl who came to perch upon the limb of a tree not far from our house. He was rather quiet, except for a momentary eruption when he fanned his feathers, squawked and sent an intruding hawk on its way. Otherwise he slept throughout the day. Peace!
Please listen to the video from the next day. At the end of it you will hear the owl deep in the woods having his say.
What Came to Be
Deciding whether or not to buy that pumpkin could be a lost opportunity, but for what? Three days ago my daughter mentioned she would like a pumpkin, and if I would please check the local market for one on my way home from an errand. So I passed by the market and checked out the supply. One in particular looked pretty good. After checking out its shape, size and condition, I pondered – would this pumpkin be OK? I actually considered not taking it into the store to purchase – I’m not sure what held me back. Its slight imperfections – would it fit the bill? Too much over analyzing – for sure. Well, I took the plunge and lugged it inside to the cash register, where the person bagging groceries said, Do you have candy for the trick or treaters? I said, “No!” “I better get some.” He agreed and was happy to influence me. I didn’t tell him we hadn’t had a trick or treater for 20 years. So, after buying my candy and pumpkin @ $9.99. I asked the man, not young, not old, but a familiar face, bagging groceries, if he wouldn’t take my pumpkin to the car for me. It was kind of heavy. He was happy to oblige. On our way I asked him if he remembered the huge blizzard we had in 2011, which totally ruined our Halloween; the years when we used to get tons of children at the door. He said, “Yes, of course, I remember it.” And proceeded to tell me that night of the storm he was drinking and driving, hit black ice and had a horrible car accident. He said he hasn’t had a drink since. I was impressed with his story and told him I knew a few men who have chosen the same path as he has.
So, if I hadn’t gone in to the buy the pumpkin, I never would have heard the not so old man’s story, a person who has waited on me invariably since the times of Covid, and who has never ever opened up to me in all that time. I took the pumpkin home to my daughter, who excitedly carved out this jack-o-lantern, for her own 14 month daughter, whom she dressed up like a little witch, and marched her up and down the street to stop at all the houses with their lights on to go trick or treating. I think she was the only one out, but still neighbors were hopeful that someone would stop. The pumpkin sat outside on our doorstep with a candle-inside, to chase away all the evil spirits flying through the air.
All of this came to be…
A Child at Play
Green leaves move in the trees.
The sun shines.
A cool breeze brushes my face.
A child at play.
Cultivo una rosa
Cultivo una rosa blanca
en julio como en enero
para el amigo sincero
que me da la mano franca
y para el cruel
que me arranque el corazón
Cardo ni ortiga cultivo
Cultivo una Rosa Blanca.
Por José MartÍ
I cultivate a rose
in July as in January (Warm or cold, it matters not.)
For my sincere friend
who gives me his honest hand
and for the cruel one
Who pulls out my heart
Neither thistle nor thorn
do I cultivate.
I cultivate a white rose.
“Cultivo una rosa blanca” was written by José Martí, a patriot, poet and journalist, who fought to help liberate Cuba from Spanish rule and colonialism.
The poem, which I memorized eons ago came to me in the night as I tossed and turned to go back to sleep. Funny to have such a memory, but there is a reason for everything. Life can be a struggle and we move through it like water in a deep lake. Sometimes our movements in what ever form they should take are made without thought for the repercussions, or waves they make. Unbeknownst to ourselves, our actions and words may hinder the tender heart of someone whose silent pain we are unfamiliar with, but nonetheless our interactions are significant. We may be the honest friend at times who lends a hand or we may be the cruel friend who pulls out someone’s heart. The point of the poem is to be able to turn the other cheek and forgive, when we are the recipient of some else’s words or actions. The harder part is to realize when we are the one who causes the hurt, or anticipate it before it happens.
Pema Chodrön would say, we all need to lighten up and let it go, and act with kindness and compassion. And then there is the quote by Oscar Wilde, “morality is knowing where to draw the line.” This is a good measure to embrace, lest we should pull out the heart of someone we love, who may, or may not forgive us.
Love
A Book I Loved
The Novel, “Remarkably Bright Creatures,” kept me on the edge of my chair. Stirring me to tears through the last 3 chapters, RBC is about loneliness and loss. Shelby Van Pelt’s main character Tova, is an elderly woman of Swedish ancestry who in her janitorial duties at an aquarium in Washington state, loves and cares for Marcellus, an aging octopus. It turns out the octopus through his soliloquies and cunning behaviors, helps Tova and the reader see the truth; that her son Erik thirty some years before, who lost his life in a boating accident, couldn’t have killed himself like everyone in the town were rumored to believe. A young man named Cameron, from Southern California, comes to the town where Tova lives in search of the father he never knew, only to find that the truth is not as simple as he thought. This novel brings together a mix of unforgettable characters of every day walks of life I grew to love. They feel like real people from the lower echelons of society, struggling to make ends meet, each defining their unique purpose in life. Tova is the strong individual who teaches us that doing things the proper way matters in life and that relationships with humans and even an octopus are the reason for our being on this planet. This is a story of how human beings are supposed to be; how actions speak louder than words.
In January
Snow falls to the ground.
Gray sky, bare trees.
A chill in the air,
here to stay,
for today,
I'm afraid -
GRB
Words to Live By
Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.
– Aristotle
There must be those among whom we can sit down and weep and still be counted as warriors. – Adrienne Rich
All Together
NOT LOST BUT GONE…
Sometimes a poorly exposed photograph is worth the effort. In this case I was able to bring back the memory of three small children, in a small way. Here we have the grave of Little Mary Smith (1865), Little Fannie, and Little Someone Else. The inscriptions were hard to read, but with a bit of tweaking, I was amazed how the letters and words become clearer, until “Voilà!” You have a phrase.
Plainfield, Connecticut August 26, 2016
Love vs. Jealousy
Every family,
Should have this quote,
Hanging over their hearth,
Or stuck on the Fridge.
Love is a condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own…Jealousy is a disease. The immature mind often mistakes one for the other, or assumes that the greater the love, the greater the jealousy.
Robert Heinlein
On Tiffany Creek 