(Using up another sample from their catalog, the more-than-coffee-caffeine tea was tasty and effective. I had a migraine coming on, and caffeine can sometimes squeeze it shut before it gets a hold of my entire being. I had been saving the sample for just this occasion. It helped quite a bit, and the pain never went beyond tolerable. It also had a pleasant coconut flavor, not too sweet. I shall buy a canister… for strictly medicinal purposes, of course.)
The squirrels are certainly busy in my yard today. I see them digging and burying, and how they won’t remember half of where they put their food. I read once that most of the NorthEastern forests were from forgotten nuts of squirrels. Absent-mindedness was a part of the greater ecosystem design. The squirrels can’t see the positives in their inability to remember all their food caches when they are hungry in the winter- regardless if they are living in a tree from a previous generation of forgetful squirrel. If only my shortcomings and stress were so beneficial.
This somehow links in my mind to a weekend museum visit. The family went to New Paltz to visit our eldest in college, and we explored the Dorsky Museum. An exhibit about Dick Polich, metallurgist and art foundry operator, was on display. There was a film playing about him, and one of the interviewees said, “he loved a challenge. In fact, I think if there weren’t problems to solve- that would be the end. What would be the point of his work?”
And now my mind has taken another side-step to a Star Trek Voyager episode I watched last night where Captain Janeway is faced with her own death aboard her ship as a spirit. Her “guide” continually encourages her to follow him into a sphere of light that will take her to a resting existence of eternal bliss. She is suspicious and unwilling to let go of the real world. Ultimately she was right because it was really aliens trying to capture her essence as she lay dying (evil aliens!) But the lure of the ultimate resting place did not appeal to her.
The squirrels need to be flawed, and suffer, for a healthy ecosystem. If all the problems of metallurgy were solved, there would be no point to coming to work at the foundry. Eternal rest is not appealing.
“I’m blessed with work.” That was a sincere line from a sweet movie. My mind is jumping all over the place today. Perhaps it is the migraine, with it opening too much to sensory input. Or being over-caffeinated. Or both. Regardless, in looking at the connections, I can only hope there is a purpose to my work, my pain, that future generations can enjoy, sleeping soundly in its branches.
Rise unfettered.
Move with intention.
Be grand.
