Fixing a Trash-Picked Watering Can
When I sat to write this post I hesitated because the subject is so seemingly minute as to be of little interest to anyone else. Then I reminded myself that I primarily write these posts for me, my family and my friends. And, I consider it a blessing that kind folks like you stop by every now and then.
(It Isn't Really About the Can)
Work is at its most intense since this pandemic began. We had a couple weeks where it seemed to be calming a bit, but then it all collapsed and, like I said - incredibly intense.
And as I sat here contemplating, weighing in the balance the value of writing this post, my mind drifted into memories of much simpler times. Of baseball games with my pals, sitting in the neighbor's crushed stone driveway bouncing stones off the tires of Corky's candy delivery truck, and the half-hour rambling walks to the pool five blocks away with stops at the corner store for baseball cards and the fire department to get a Coke from their machine. I find those memories come more often and clearly these days, clearly a means of coping with the insanity that swirls in my head with work stuff.
Here's a couple more posts of interest...
• The New York Times "Incalculable Loss" front page
• A short post about The Great Pause
• Remembering the Houses of my Life
Dick and Jane
Then, somehow, my mind reeled all the way back to those old Dick and Jane books - remember them? I couldn't remember the details, even though they were intentionally written so very simply, but my mind went to the one about Look and See. I didn't know the word for it, but I remember struggling with the seeming redundancy of the title. Isn't looking and seeing the same thing after all?
Eyes that Do Not See
I have no idea when I first realized that I often look at the events or people in my life, but don't see their deeper meaning, or the needs or even the core who of these self-same people. Like everyone else - I looked. I looked at those events, I looked at the people in my life, but how often have I looked and simply not seen. How often did I just look and not consider the meaning of the events, the who of the people I engaged.
Look AND See
I guess the reason any of this philosophizing matters, even a little is because of this, take a look:
Now, look again and see. Consider what it means. Please, just for a second, let's not just look, shake it out of our heads and politicize the very simple things we can do to reduce the risk of passing along this dread disease to someone who, ever so possibly, could die of it. Even if we're all wrong in the end. Even if it turns out that wearing a cloth mask has minimal effect - is it really that onerous of an ask? Is your ego, or your insecurities about these amazing inalienable rights we hold so dear, worth the risk that you may pose to someone else? If you don't care about yourself, could you at least see the others about you?
And Just Like That - The Water Can is Fixed
It turns out I really don't have to think about whether or not posting about fixing the handle on a trash-picked watering can has value. No, the pandemic has me tired. I still consider myself blessed, but I'm tired, and writing a little post like this is relaxing and takes my mind off the stresses of my job. Therein lies sufficient value.
Stay safe out there!
