I was distracted this morning. Something trivial happened and it upset the entire apple-cart of my awareness.
As I struggled with the minor annoyance, a thought I had yesterday flashed from storage to present moment reality and I laughed aloud.
I was finishing up a customer’s lawn, the first cut of the new spring. The grass was uneven, thick and lumpy for a bit and then barren and filled with dead leaves. It was still a bit damp making propulsion with the reel mower a challenge. On the more dense parts I was doing the cut and pull routine, about a foot of cut, pull back, reset blades with foot and repeat. By the time I neared completion my arms, especially shoulders, were screaming for a siesta. Needing to rally, I pull off my gloves and hoodie. As I am adjusting cap, sunglasses and attitude two Canadian Honkers fly overhead at low altitude. The lawn is harbor waterfront creating a nice opportunity for both my labor and their flight plan. I stop to gawk. They are beautiful birds, big and balanced. I totally buy into the concept that their ‘honking’ is actually audible encouragement from the captain to the squad - and then repeated, echoed to all. I am standing there in admiration, trying to catch my breath and find the motivation to finish strong, when one of them drops a fecal bomb on my head.
It could have been accidental or could have been retaliation for stealing so much of their natural habitat, or worse, I might have been mistaken for a trump supporter - a predator who protects the hunter but not the hunted.
I am standing there, embarrassed, when the above mentioned thought pops up. Poops up perhaps. I am cleaning my cap and I see/hear/feel this:
ZEN IS WATCHING MAGNIFICENT BIRDS IN FLIGHT KNOWING THEY MIGHT SHIT ON YOUR HEAD.
As I absorb and explore this experience I start the final mow.
Life is like this. Life IS this. Like anything else. We start. We move in the direction we call the goal. We encounter obstacles. Our will is challenged. We are tested. The grass is wet. Our arms become weary. We press onward. We learn. We grow. And we learn to laugh at ourselves.
As those above laugh at us.
Like anything else.
No comments:
Post a Comment