The last day of November and Nicholas is sleeping as I look outside through the sliding glass doors of our apartment. There is snow on the ground for the first time this season. There is still a month left to go in 2008 and already I find myself reflecting on all of the change that I've seen this year. Nicholas was born. I left my job of over four years and even made a slight shift in profession. We left Chicago, our home of seven years, for Omaha of all places. We also left our house for a temporary two bedroom apartment where I now sit on the floor. There was an election of some import. The economy staggered into problem territory like we haven't seen in 80 years.
Some of these changes are good. Some maybe not so much. But I mention none of them in order to attach labels. I'm just sitting here amazed that so much can change in a year. We expected Nicholas. The rest of it has been a surprise unfolding at every turn.
Looking at the snow now is like looking at a clean slate. Things are quiet and I feel a strange kind of peace that I haven't felt in a long time. It's taken me three paragraphs to figure out that the feeling is one of being in this moment and no other, being reflective but not in a critical way, again without assigning those labels. I'm also not planning for the future, something that tends to keep me up nights. I'm only dreaming of what it may bring, what other surprises could possibly be in store.
These moments are rare, but it's during these short epiphanies that I best understand the zen story of the tigers and the strawberry, which apparently, according to the link, had a very different ending depending on who told it and when.
3 comments:
Sorry for ruining your Zen moment, but that story only reminds me about King of the Hill. Kahn tells Hank & the guys the story, and then Hank passes it on to Bobby with a few changes:HANK: Did I ever tell you the story about the man and the tiger? Well, there was this man, and he was being chased by a ferocious tiger. No, make that a lion. A Detroit Lion! Two of 'em. And the man was Cowboy Hall of Famer Roger Staubach.BOBBY: I know him! He sells life insurance on TV.HANK: Yeah, well, anyway, the Lions were blitzing and Roger rolled out of the pocket, running for his life. He headed for the sidelines, but these two Lions were closing in on him. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a strawberry...cup of Gatorade. Well, Roger took a sip of that Gatorade, but I tell you something, son, it was the sweetest sip of Gatorade Roger ever had. Change is always interesting. Scary, bad, good, exciting, frustrating -- but always interesting. Enjoy the adventure!
Don't be sorry. I was actually looking for a clip of that episode on YouTube but couldn't find one. I love that Bill always thinks it's a joke: "Heh heh... strawberry."
I'm just worried that people will think way less of me when they find out that most of my knowledge of the world around me comes from sitcoms & cartoons! ;-D
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