Sunday, June 19, 2011

From The Lake

It takes about three cloudy days in a row and I begin to wonder why I should bother to get out of bed.  Then a good hot shower and a strong cup of coffee later and life begins to seem somewhat worth living again.  Really, is the sun that important?
Of course cloudy days are easier to take here at the lake, where the loons call and, looking up, I catch the arc of a great blue heron passing overhead.
As Wendell Berry says "When despair for the world grows in me........
                                       I come into the peace of wild things......
                                       who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
                                       I come into the presence of still water.
                                       I rest in the grace of the world and am free."
I wonder about the phrase 'forethought of grief.'  I think he knows that early morning worry that can creep in if you let it on a cloudy morning.  There is enough grief in life without planning ahead for it.  Better to drink strong coffee and try to stay in the present.  Rest in the grace of the world.

1 comment:

  1. I do find that strong coffee will cure or mitigate most ills....

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