With No Egrets, For Now

Dear Maria,

Perhaps it was no-egret Saturday, as only blue skies and an early sun greeted Max and me when we were out at the school last weekend. However, a bit earlier than usual for us. The ebb and flow of days, I guess. Or maybe there truly is something to the notion of different rhythms to the seasons. I know I have eased up—if one can slow slowed-down.

Of course, I don’t have that day count clicking along in my brain, or at least not with any urgency about getting my mind right and energy up over the next four weeks or so. I do wonder about folks who have their two-week hiatus maxed out as they feel they must vacation like it’s 1999. Always sad to hear of a vacation getaway rained out—a lot riding on that little piece of the year.

The acoustic lilies bloomed, finally. Last fall when I took the bulb out of the pot, it broke into several pieces, and so I put a few in each of three holes in the garden and this past week, two plants bloomed. A third has produced a shoot but is not nearly ready to flower. I may have dug that third hole in a less than fruitful spot. Location, location, location.

Nonetheless, the lilies are lovely and the lantana and plumbago and Rose of Sharon are blooming, and the roses are recovering from the War of the Beetles, the grass is green, and the trees are growing. An unremarkable birthday is in the offing, many books are readily at hand, health is good, and were I to complain about—well, about anything—I should be slapped upside the head.

This week several references to the Iroquois notion of responsibility seven generations out have surfaced in some of my reading. One article pegged it at 150 years, a simpler notion I suppose. Who is thinking now about how actions will impact family, the community, or the world in 2164? Imagine someone in 1864 thinking “Whoa, this might not be such a good idea for folks in 2014.” Or, “This is a great idea for the future that is unimaginable.”

Maybe the phrase should be our reach exceeds our foresight. A rough phrasing, that may—or should—give us pause. But, we are not allowed to slow down for fear that something might not be done. A moment, lost.

Enjoy the summer as it unfolds further.

Yours, truly, srk