Wisdom

The years teach much which the days never knew. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

© Lynn Retzlaff

Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another. ~Juvenal, Satires

© Lynn Retzlaff

My husband and I took the kids to the zoo this past Monday. A much needed and deserved day of enjoyment and family time.

As we wandered the zoo looking at animal after beautiful animal, absorbing all the educational facts our minds could hold on a hot humid day, I fell in love over and over again. So many beautiful and fascinating creatures live on this planet. My inner child surfaced and wished the age old wish to be able to talk to the animals. I would love to be able to connect with them and understand what they are thinking and feeling, especially the elephants.

To see the world through the eyes of an elephant. Wouldn't that be fascinating? The history they must hold! I wonder if they tell stories to their young, passing knowledge from generation to generation.

Perhaps my love for the elephant is in direct relation to my love for grand old trees. Think of the similarities. Their color, texture, massive size, longevity, noble stature. Both are seen as wise old sages. I wonder if the wrinkles on elephants read like the lines in the trunks of trees, giving glimpses into their history. (Wonder. Another component to wisdom, as one feeds the other)

Wisdom is not something that can be rushed. One must slow down and learn with intent in order to gain wisdom. One must take the time to care about the knowledge that presents itself. Perhaps that is why the elephant and the tree are both representatives of wisdom. They are both noble slow/still beings that seem to absorb the stories of that which surround them. Wisdom through observation and osmosis.

Pondering the Struggle

Early morning.

Lying in bed with my love.

The birds wake, stretch, sing.

Earth quenching rain pouring down.

Trees dancing in the breeze as their thirst is met by the clouds.

Pondering the magic of life.

I am happy.

Sadness spontaneously washes over.

Life is beautifully amazing

yet such a struggle.

There is so much struggle.

When we get wrapped up in survival,

we don't really live.

Back I fall again.

Back into the moment.

My head rises with every breath of my husband's chest.

His heart beats strong and loud.

The birds are still singing,

trees dancing,

rain quenching.

Once again I am happy.

I am present.

I am alive.

I live.

Take time to live in the moment.

(Key word, live.)

Honesty

Do you ever hear a word, a normal word, a word you use all the time,

and suddenly it sounds different and you think

"That is the strangest sounding word."

Then you write it down and realize it even looks strange.

No?

Maybe it's just me.

Okay, check this.

I'm really trying to be more honest with myself.

Remember my post about preparing for a party and wanting to be real?

I have been faced with another challenge.

Due to my extended families schedules, I am forced to hold Christmas this Sunday.

Not my choice. I'm not ready. I cannot afford a tree until the following weekend.

I thought about putting one on a charge card but that seems ludicrous.

Instead, I have decided to be honest. I put up this...

Yes, friends. It is a Charlie Brown Christmas tree!

I love it!

It was given to me by a friend.

It is fitting for our upcoming gathering.

We are all struggling in this economy.

We have all agreed to forgo gifts.

Once again, in the spirit of honesty, I thought about saying, 

"Screw the house too. I'm not cleaning one lick."

Yup. That's honesty.

I do say screw.

And I don't like to clean for others.

That's when the word hit me funny.

Honesty.

 I wrote it down.

Not only did it sound funny but it looked funny too. 

I went a step further and looked up the definition.

Honesty

1. the quality or fact of being honest; uprightness and fairness. 

2. truthfulness, sincerity, or frankness. 

3. freedom from deceit or fraud. 

I thought, "It kind of looks like 'hone' and 'sty'.

So I looked them up as well.

Hone

to make more acute or effective; improve; perfect

Sty

1. a pen in which pigs are housed and fed. 2. any filthy or corrupt place

 Ha!

Busted.

I was trying to use honesty as an excuse to be lazy and not clean at all.

Cop out.

I like a clean house, just not an anal retentive white glove house.

It looks like I better get honest with my bad self and hone my sty for Christmas!

Bah Humbug!

Wood Spirit

Hubby is a chainsaw carver.

We started Lorax Carving.

He's been carving for two years now.

Sometimes he carves what he sees in the wood

and sometimes he carves what others request.

One day I asked him to carve me a wood spirit.

He didn't know what I was talking about.

"I want a face coming out of the wood.

As if you are pulling the spirit out of the wood

so we can see it."

He picked a piece of wood.

He had no plan.

He just carved.

As he reached the left eye, the sap ran from the wood.

It was a spiritual moment for him.

He carves, the wood shows him the way.

This is what it showed him that day.

Patience

Patience

 When I was a young child I had plenty of patience.

Life taught me to rush, push, go, do.

Fight or flight had replaced patience years ago.

I chose to adapt patience back into my life.

It is a struggle at times.

I have come a long way and have gained much in the practice of patience.

I also have moments where I lose it.

Lose patience with life.

With myself.

When I lose patience with the kids I feel the worst.

They don't understand.

They feel the push, the rush, the stress.

Sometimes they cry.

I stop.

It hurts me that it hurts them.

I forgive myself for forgetting patience.

I appologize.

Explain.

Practice patience once again.

Watch, observe, learn from the children.

They own the key to peace and patience.

Watch, observe, learn from nature.

There, also, lies the key.

As the maple forms it's buds

and slowy,

patiently

turns them into beautiful full leaves.

Bask in the shade.

Feel the peace.

You have to be patient

but it is there

and worth the wait.

Crossroads

Yesterday I had the opportunity to take a walk with a good friend.
We have been setting dates once a week for the past four weeks.
Every week we go to a different small town
eat at a different small eatery
take in the local shops
and drive the local roads.

On our weekly lunch dates
we have spent time discussing and pondering our lives.
We talk of where life has taken us,
where we feel we are headed,
where we hope to head
and all the possibilities out there.


Yesterday we found a quaint little town called Rockdale.
We saw a path that led to a bridge
that also led to the trail.
We headed down the path
as we could not resist the canopy of trees.

Not too far into our walk we came upon a crossroads.
I kid you not! An actual crossroads!
Can you see it below?
One path is graveled quite nicely
while the other is more grassy and natural.

I giggled and couldn't resist giving my friend Rosie a small crossroads speech.
"You see Rosie?
All this talk and contemplation we have been doing and here it is!
Our actual crossroads right here in front of us! You must pick!
Pick a path! Which way should we go?"

That's the last time I let her make the decisions! Ha!
No sooner did we head in her chosen direction than we came upon a red sign
(yes, a literal "sign")
that read...

"WRONG WAY"

Oh did we laugh and laugh!

How completely fitting for two silly wanderers.

(Rosie and the "wrong way")

Tree Huggers