Confession: Sometimes my posts have hidden pieces I don’t share. Do you want to see?
*****
Confession: I hate controversial topics, though I tackle them. I do love truth. Multifaceted, complex, everyone’s-perspective-thrown-in-truth. I love debate. Er. Correction—I love watching debate. But I hate moderating it. This time around, we’ll keep things really simple, focus on what we can all agree on.
The earth is round.
The cycle spins.
The grass is greener than you’d expect, this time of year.
Melting snow turns to water.
Zook yard turns to mudhole.
Have you ever dug a hole in January?
I dug a lot of holes this week, some with my shovel, some with my words.
It’s enchanting.
And raw. For me and for you.
All that rich, dark earth, splendidly flecked with earthworms.
The earth is truly, deeply intoxicating. But I hint also at a lush dessert. God giveth us richly all things to enjoy. The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.
I dug a lot of holes on Saturday, and stood baby trees in most of them… gifts from the Arbor Day Foundation, received too close to snowfall and kept in water since. And the other hole I dug on Saturday (a standard of quality), I dug deeper on Sunday (a case for eating). Why? I guess because I had some seeds to throw down. I hope they will live. They stand straight, rooted in abundance, luxuriating in the unseasonably warm wind.
I am a baby tree too. I live by digging holes to put myself in. Digging holes, putting out roots. It’s the only way I know to grow. I don’t do it all right. But I learn, and I grow.
Shari, who had geared herself up for four to six more weeks of winter, has snuffed spring, and is dogging it.
I am restless and lonesome, ready for fresh topics, fresh hope, fresh air… Spring.
I just love you, brave girl.
Me, too!
Layers and layers…
Not everyone agrees the earth is round. Just sayin’…
Ha! My suspicion confirmed. Love your blog and the dialogue it inspires.
My Dear Sis,
I just got done reading this and your prior food blog comments. Wow! Obviously a sensitive topic. Thanks for saying what you thought. Don’t worry about the holes. Grow straight and tall in them. 🙂
I know I’ve become more sensitive to all this eating stuff since being diagnosed. And your comment about the organic apples makes me grin. I know where that comes from. So while I’ve ramped the health up a notch, I know I could do better. And sometimes I get depressed thinking about it. BUT one of the things that I have determined is to live with freedom. This doesn’t mean doing whatever I want whenever I want, but it does mean living without fear. Notice, I said I am determined to live this way, not that I’ve attained.
I want to make healthy choices because I want to, not because I’m paranoid. And a huge key for me is to focus on what I have changed, not on what I have yet to change.
Whatever… I detest the pride on either side probably because I have seen both in me. 🙂
I have been thinking about you a lot these days, Jean. I have an email to you formulated in my head, and one of these days…soon…I hope it will show up in your inbox.
As my friend’s mom always said, “a letter doesn’t do anyone any good just laying around.”
Uh oh. 🙂
(I leave letters lying around a lot…in my head, my heart, and on my counter…)
Can’t wait 🙂
Love your vulnerability! But what I find the most remarkable is the difference between how you expose your heart to others now, versus how you didn’t do that so easily in the years past. I know you are not ‘fearless’ in a hard sort of way, yet I’ve seen you move into difficulty and controversial discussions with confidence, purpose and grace. Love it! Thanks for being my daughter, and one I’m proud of. (that ok? 🙂