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Small Wonders
It is amazing how our bodies betray us. And in
that betrayal we find joy in the small wonders of living.
Several years ago I had a slip-and-fall accident that left me partially
disabled. During the recovery period I would sit for hours and watch
the small wildlife outside my patio. Over time I watched the squirrels
as they fearlessly climbed the trees and jumped from one to another. I
learned their aerial trails from one tree to another. The squirrels
ruled the grassy area. The chipmunks were relegated to the flower
beds. The furthest they would venture out into the yard was the wooden
borders holding in the flowers. Until one day when I saw a chipmunk
with an identity crisis. He tried to climb the trees like the squirrels
did. He actually got about five feet up the tree...the he froze.
During this time I saw my first cardinal and heard my first woodpecker.
I watched the lake freeze and then thaw and the idiots who drove their
trucks onto the lake before it was strong enough to hold the weight. I
still remember the day when five trucks parked in the same area on the
ice and all five broke through. They would have been safer if they
would have spread out on the ice. There seemed to be a lack of thought
processes.
For the last few weeks I have been rediscovering the joys of food.
During the last six months or so I have been grabbing a carton of yogurt
for lunch or a frozen dinner at night. Busy-ness has interfered with
living. My friend and I have had few nights to gather at the multitude
of restaurants in the Cities. They are as numerous and varied as those
in New York or San Francisco. Emily's has fantastic Middle Eastern
food. It is the only place I have been in a long time that has the raw
meat delicacy I learned to enjoy as a child in California. Falafal King
makes the bes falafal and gyros I have ever eaten. Not to mention their
desserts. And the cities abounds with steak houses. Then there is
Tavern on Grand that has the best walleye in town and is where
presidents and leaders visiting from foreign countries have dined. It
is one of the only places I will eat fish. I did not grow up enjoying
fish, but this is one place where I go to relish this state meal.
Now I can hardly eat. Only three months ago my friends and I gorged at
Don Pablo's on chili rellenos and enchiladas. For Christmas my friend
made and brought me home made tamales. I could eat only one and a
teaspoon full of the incredibly good rice her mother made. The Chinese
dinner lasts for three days. And the brownie pie my friend picked up
for me that serves 6 will make a dozen servings for me now. Each of
these provide me with pleasure that I had taken for granted before.
When our bodies betray us we learn to relish those things we are
losing. And we also learn to step back and enjoy those things we lose
in the busy-ness of living. It has been years since I broke out the
paints. It is time, this New Year's Day, for me to return to those
activities that provide pleasure. It is time to sit back and read the
books I have had piling up on my shelves. It is time to venture out
onto the frozen patio and breathe in the crisp air. It is time to paint
the mountains of the West I miss here in the Midwest.
For every one of us there are activities that feed our soul. For some
there are children to raise and enjoy. For others it is the
grandchildren we need to spend time with and pass on the stories that
embarrass their parents. Some need to give to others and some of us
need to learn to be given to. My friend loves to cross stitch. She is
talented, but work and caring for home have caused her to put this
aside. Another friend is a genius at crochet, but she has not made an
afghan in years because she “doesn't have the time.” Another interest
of mine is genealogy. I have put it off for years because it consumes
so much time. Today is the time to also start that. My great
grandfather is waiting for me to discover his story.
Don't wait for your body to betray you to force you to take time to
enjoy those activities that feed your soul. It is time to do them
today...even if it is enjoying an ice cream cone in the middle of
winter.
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