"If a man in the morning hear the right way,
he may die in the evening without regret."
- Confucius: The Analects
Some nights are better than others. This one was particularly nice. The windows open, the air cool, Leah (the
cat) in her customary way had just hopped up on the bed to begin her ritual of
waking us up. Hopped up is a bit of an
exaggeration because as she has gotten older, she has developed a little
arthritis in her lower spine and right hip.
Let me rephrase…”Leah in her customary way
had just struggled a little to get to the bed…” This night had been both
wonderfully restful, and as she turned on her purring engine, extremely
refreshing. Last night…ah yes, last
night was only the 8th night I had spent in my own bed in a month,
and the third in three weeks…it was good!
In the past five years, I have come to
enjoy living in Southern California. The
weather is consistent on a daily basis – a fair amount of sunshine and a lot of
things to do. Yes indeed, l have come to
enjoy living in Southern California.
There are a few things missing here…a few
things pleasantly missing and others, truly missing. For example: humidity… Humidity is one of
those missing items that makes life a little more agreeable. Blizzards…yes, it is nice to not have
strategies for shoveling snow.
Flooding…not much heavy water action here.
There are also things relatively new here. For example, we seem to have a little more
company – that would be visiting company. While I haven’t actually ‘run the numbers,’ I
am pretty sure more people have called on us in the past 5 years than in the
combined 35 years living in Missouri and Detroit. Maybe it is true that as one matures and has
more to share, people just naturally want to come to drink from the ‘fountain
of life’s wisdom’ I have accumulated. On the other hand maybe it is simply to
visit the zoo!
There are, however, a few things truly
missing out here…things that have meaning.
The past month has reminded me of those items. This past month is the reason I have spent
only a few days in my own bed.
Since June 21, I’ve crossed the continent
three times, sleeping in different beds one or two nights at a time. I am comfortable with traveling, but this was a little
more than even I am used to. The past
thirty days has been a mixture of work, reflection and family reconnection.
The
work
Not much to say…I like it.
The
reflection
We said a final good bye to my younger
sister as we placed her ashes in the cool refreshing Canadian waters of central
Ontario. It was a reminder that while
living out here is good; there are no forests of hardwood trees. There are few fresh water lakes to remind one
of how alive it feels to jump in and swim.
Missing are the broad-brush shifts of season that have marked time
through millennia…mostly, there is the absence of family.
Family
reconnection
My niece visits us fairly regularly, and
each time she does, the luminescence of our lives is brightened. I have another sister, Anne, and her family
living in the Washington, D.C. area who I don’t often see. On this trip I had a couple of days with her. She is the only remaining ‘blood’ with whom I
have journeyed my entire life.
It was good. We laughed, played a little scrabble with she and her children,
struggled through some family issues as all families do, had some intimate and private time (to be coveted)…but mostly, we loved
each other. I can’t speak for how the family perceived me, but in the whirlwind of a short visit sandwiched into a couple of
work projects…it was good. In spite of
the heat and humidity of that east coast city, it was refreshing and feeding
and edifying. Yeah, there are a few
things missing from my life here in Southern California.
As Leah purred this morning and I gently
returned to my bedroom from the adventures of my night visions, I stretched…looked
into her eyes and was grateful...grateful
for the refreshing night’s sleep and the familiarity of Molly and my own bed…grateful
for having the health and strength to handle a month like the one just past…grateful
indeed…
- ted
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