Sunday, June 3, 2007

Thought Salad

Like fraternal twins in the womb kicking the living daylights out of each other to get out (a habit I find they still have after almost 17 years), some possibly unconnected thoughts make their way into the world this morning.
 
Issue 1: Angels. Lately I've been spending time thinking about them. Not the winged variety, hauling harps all over the place. I mean the ones who show up in the form of friends, co-workers, people you meet, or don't meet and just pass somewhere and yet who still make an impact. They do something, or write something, or say something, and a light goes on and you realize you've just received something you needed someone to give you. They can come along suddenly, or can be in your life for years and one day the angel moment happens. Maybe the angel quality was there all along, waiting for its cue. Maybe it was sent from elsewhere right then and the person was just right to serve as the conduit. What I've noticed is that what angels do in your life is usually not big and obvious, though it can be. Most of the time it's not the size of what they do, it's the divinely perfect timing of it. And to those of my angels who are reading this, if you even know who you are, know that I am grateful.
 
Issue 2: A guy is willing to expose two continents to a rare, drug-resistant form of TB to be with the woman he loves. Who says there's no real romance anymore? Add a Rodgers and Hart score, choreography by Gene Kelly, and Oscar Levant in a supporting role as the sardonically witty CDC TB expert who's also the protagonist's father-in-law, and it would have made a great MGM musical.
 
Issue 3: It's good to see the right reverends Sharpton and Jackson following up on their promises to take on racist rap lyrics now that Imus is gone. I haven't seen an effort this intense since OJ's crusade to find the real killers.  
 
Issue 4: Yesterday I planted a tree. I'd been at the garden store and saw these little fern-type things that are supposed to grow to only about 15 feet. There's an area of our garden-in-progress that I hadn't yet decided what to do with, and this seemed a good solution. It didn't come with much in the way of instructions, but I'm figuring it's a tree, how hard can this be? The thing I noticed when I got home was that planting it felt different from anything else I've ever planted. There always was something spiritual for me about planting a garden anyway, but there was something downright sacred about planting a tree. It reminded me of that feeling when baking bread that it's beyond cooking, that you're getting to participate in a kind of holy process. Proof that it really is possible to feel centered and serene. And the timing of it was perfect. Those angels really do know what they're doing, don't they?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

That little fern tree, didn't happen to be a laylandia (sp) did it, they are the scurge of the English suburbs lololol. They just don't stop growing, and if grown in a row, become giant walls blocking out all light and sapping the goodness from all around.
On the other hand, if it aint, yer ok!

Gaz ;-)

Anonymous said...

I'm afraid to plant anything.  It dies within a week.  But my mother in law?  She can grow anything.  Oh well...fake plants for me....

You sound rather at peace....I'll have some of what you're having.  ;-)

~Amy
http://journals.aol.com/amy122389/HowDidIGetHere/

Anonymous said...

The important thing about newly planted trees is to make sure they get enough water in their first few years so the roots can get well established.  The nursery you bought it from can tell you how much is enough.  Trees ARE special.  We have a huge maple in our yard, a lovely old tree that provides shade (for humans) and shelter (for hosts of birds, squirrels and the like), but it has a sinister side as well.  It happens to be a greedy water hog that sucks a big portion of the yard around it dry.  It is responsible for the deaths of several rhododendrons along with untold multitudes of hostas.  Just another example of the yin/yang of existence, you know light/dark, birth/death, lawn/weeds, yada/yada.

Anonymous said...

I am realizing that I have never planted a tree.  I have planted vegetables, lots of vegetables, herbs, flowers, bushes, ferns, bulbs.... but never a tree.  I do have a tree, the ficus that came up as a volunteer in a pot a few years ago.  It is now over 3 feet tall and has been moved to increasingly larger pots.  It blew over on Wednesday in a big gust of wind as I was sitting right next to it visiting with a friend.  Broke the terra cotta dish it was sitting in but the pot and the tree are OK.  I dont know who planted it.  Might have been angels disguised as squrrels.

Kate  

Anonymous said...

I have always felt those cherished few who make a difference for others without a word , encouragement, attention, simply for the act of compassion where a rarity in this life; If I believed in angels they would be my example.

As for the TB toting continent hopping ignorant idiot. If his love was true, one of those life time soul mate connections, it would of waited awhile longer until it was safe. He risked alot of peoples lives. True love doesn't fade, so what was the hurry?

My grandfather planted a tree in his yard for each of his sons when they where born. Unlike the sons the trees grew strong and beautiful. I remember climbing them in my teens. When my grandmother sold her home , the new owners wasted no time in cutting down these same trees. Some part of me mourned those trees. To me there was a sacred connection to my grandfather through them. He died when I was 12. Your post actually makes me want to honor my life and that of my families by planting a tree myself.

On another note, I hope all is well with you dear one, havn't heard from you in some time. I know life generally takes precendence over our online time. You have been missed! (Hugs) Indigo

Anonymous said...

I totally relate to your Angel Issue....those are the paths that are meant to cross, so a lil bit of you rubs off on them and a lil bit of them rubs off on you! Souls meant to cross to bring something to one another. I am blessed that I get to witness it almost everyday here in J-Land and out in the real world.

And I get issue #4.....your planting that tree brings life back round to full circle, we need to replace everything we take from our mother earth, or our childrens childrens will only know of somethings that are no longer among us and only see it through books and museums....Lots of people plant trees in honor of those who have already passed as a symbol of life goes on and so should we.

Have a great week Ben!

K.