"I always wonder how that must be for the critter cruising across a cold slab of stone, a wool rug, a pane of glass, plan of action obliterated" Me too, especially in recent years, as I feel more and more like a small being existing within a world of large forces. I try to treat them as I would like to be if I were them.
I think that is exactly the right approach, Rita. Good to remember that everything has a role and a right to respect. Thanks for offering that to the world, Rita.
I am a keeper of seeds, but as you probably remember, that spider would have been flattened by my coffee mug! That's a carry-over from my Mom and sister, both arachnophobes, and I am trying to do better! However, one small spider landed on my shoulder the other morning in my bathroom, heading down from a light fixture on his web, and I killed it in knee-jerk fashion right away, then felt bad afterwards. Oh well...I do rescue stink bugs, lady bugs, etc...but not the spiders~working on it!
I would not have remembered that! Sounds like you come by it honestly (such a quirky expression). Sounds like you are taking small steps, which is, often, the most we can expect of ourselves. Our girl down under has had to learn to adapt to Huntsmen spiders. I give her so much credit for that! Appreciate the comment, Carolyn. 🧡
I have to work at liking spiders, but I treat them as you do. I grew up in a conservative Christian household. We didn’t dance, drink, play cards, or go to the movies. However, for some still mystifying reason, the first movie I went to with my parents was about a monster tarantula that was terrorizing a town. I laugh about that every time I think about it. I wish I had thought to ask my parents why they chose to take us to that movie. Spiders in general, get a bad rap, and that movie certainly reinforced it.
Darrell, what a great story! I wonder if they thought you'd never want to see another movie if they started with that one. Was it Earth vs. The Spider? I just did a quick search.
Evidently, some study or other ranked spiders as among the most despised of all of our creatures, even more than cockroaches. I'm glad you're trying to overcome the fears. Thanks for spending some time here.
“…how even at such distance my breath caused it to glide across the wooden surface of the chest of drawers, where I captured it beneath a magnifying glass to get a better look at it later. I think about how, in the morning, I will let it go. ”
The second thing to be carefully contained and held, even if briefly. I respond to the drift of this seed, the quiet, the way it wafted in and about, carried by even the smallest of movements of air. But this moment of noticing it….of thinking about the irony and the odds and the journey…of tucking it safely to look at more closely later…of knowing it will be blown free again….this feels very much like a metaphor for writing and for the way you approach story (and humanity). There’s something quite nice about that, about this single seed that you stopped to notice, the quiet of it (despite the hum in your ears). Great magnifying glass photo.
I was caught by this line, too, Amy. I think you're right about it--the capturing and observing and eventual letting go--being a metaphor for writing and Elizabeth's observant approach to story and humanity.
Life, despite its many challenges, brings us much that is marvelous, doesn't it? Amy, I so appreciate how you notice detail, then weave it back on itself to hold it in place, not always trimming away the threads that dangle, just leaving them to serve the purposes they are meant to serve. It is a unique gift. This is a thoughtful contribution, as always. Thank you. (The magnifying glass belonged to my mother, and maybe hers?)
Translating this bleary-eyed, too-early-in-the-morning example of grateful realization/appreciation of the connection of the here (or there...) and now to the wonder of our/all very existence is a lovely way to start a day that is bound to be full of just plain god-awful examples of being a sentient (sic...hahahahaha) being in 2024, id est: the "unthinkable" horror becoming the comme-il-faut of 2024....
Kippy, a practice I have (and it is very much a practice, not perfected) is that of recognizing connections. I just read a Ray Bradbury short story called A Sound of Thunder which draws attention to this through fiction. Braiding Sweetgrass, a more contemporary work of non-fiction (Kimmerer) does the same. Both compelling, and I wish more people were inspired to read them. May we all see what is still good! There's a lot of it.
I love your renegade mind and how it evolved into many parables... The parable of the seed and the parable of the spider all tell stories about how your nighttime was interrupted by possible insomnia or of things around you..... I don't think the spider or the seed are the real elements of your writing... I think a creative mind often struggles to shut down at night.... But even with your mini parables... Your followers were entertained fully....
Oooh, renegade! I'll take it. :) I am. nothing if not committed to my promises, Barry, so there was a strong streak of that going on. That there were unexpected events to take me where I wanted to go, even if from a different path, was a gift.
Always delighted when you turn up on my pages. Hope all is well.
Good for you for listening to Sanity! One of my fave moments in a book is from Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat Pray Love”, and she is on the floor in the middle of the night, crying her eyes out about her marriage and although she’s not religious, ask God what she should do. And she says that God replied with the sensible thing: “go back to bed, Elizabeth”!
Hah!! Yes, yes! I remember that scene, and the practical nature of it. It's so easy to attach ourselves to our vision of the outcome, or to cling when we need to release. Thank you for bringing that one back for me.
Perhaps the Universe's nudge towards rest, perhaps just a spider and a seed but I prefer thinking it to be the quiet nudge! Thanks for your wonderful musings!
I prefer that, too, Susan, or at least I prefer recognizing that I was given a choice and for once (praise be!) I noticed the invitation and accepted. Thanks for the comment!
It’s a beautiful thing when you listen and pivot accordingly. I’m still working on this. Beautiful reminder Elizabeth. I write this as my left ear roars. Tinnitus has been my constant companion for years. I’m currently tuned to a low grade buzz. A bumble bee.
My band name: Listen & Pivot 😂 Seriously, yes. Yes! So beautiful. It will always be a work in progress for me, I'm sure, but I like to think I'm making a few small strides.
Tinnitus is tricky. Mine is more of a high-pitched ringing. I like the idea of a bumble bee, but not in my ear. It's one of those ailments that elicits a giant shrug from the healthcare industry. I suppose there's value in the recommended relaxation therapies.
Oh I’m very much an arachnid rescuer and I currently live in the world of large spiders, as in tarantulas. I saved one just the other day from overstaying a brief visit into my house as a matter of fact. I’ve always had an affinity for spiders and snakes; maybe because I have always liked the underdogs of the world. There are so many different sorts of other spiders here in Central America that if one isn’t careful, one’s house can quickly turn into one’s House of Horrors within a matter of a few days with all sorts of webs suspended in the craziest of places. One not only sweeps floors but ceilings and corners as well. When the dry season sets in within a few weeks, I’ll start watering the grass outside at night to help out the big boys burrowed in the ground. The goal, of course, is to keep them outside so they won’t venture indoors looking for water in my shower or sink. Method in madness there. See?
Enjoyed your read. Nice change of pace from politics. Thanks for the mental floss.
Much appreciated! You have next-level spider rescuing where you are, not to mention house cleaning. One of my kids is in Australia and has had to adapt to the size of some of their most offensive insects, namely spiders and cockroaches. I keep telling her it builds character.
So good to know this landed well for you. Thanks for sharing.
I’ll have to admit that the cucarachas and scorpions will end up dead. I don’t like cockroaches and scorpions and my little dog wouldn’t mix well. To they will end up dead if I see them.
I think this was lovely - and I too Catch and Release unless the spiders are really large as they sometimes can be. (If I can gauge their facial expression I must seal off the area till further help is available but I don't hurt them either). Your descriptions of 3 am resonate - very much. The moon is almost full and that generally impacts my sleep in some way.
Haha - gauge their facial expression! Brava to you for bringing in reinforcements when needed, Sue. I've wrestled with inconsistent sleep for years, and the moon does seem to play a part. In this instance, it was just my commitment to a looming [ahem...self-imposed] deadline.
A great change of pace; they are so refreshing and I hope it worked that way for you.
One of those very seeds captured itself in some of my fresh varnish on Friday and was perfectly preserved although that was not the plan...I left it. Bees and spiders I have to save. Houseflies and biting bugs, not so much. Stinkbugs never.
Having just returned from diving, seated unclothed on the toilet, bottom level of my house in Cozumel, I pushed the door closed in the tiny room to find a tarantula the diameter of a small dinner plate. Never before or since was there such an intake of breath.
Oh....gah! A plate-sized tarantula would absolutely grab my attention and steal my air! From a distance, though, isn't it so darned impressive that the planet supports a spider that big?!
I'll do what I can to save many insects. Ant season gets the better of me, even though I have tried to react differently at times. Mosquitoes, bless their sucky little souls, don't get much support from me, I'm afraid, though I do usually offer up an apology afterwards.
Saved with assistance - there's a mantra for us. Thanks for sharing, Janice.
Beautiful. This piece's attention to the present, to the small and wondrous is a gift of a moment. So much here--the spider, the seed, the interruption of "the rain of fingers on keyboard," the voice of sanity--is in itself, a return to the wide world really--in that way that the micro shows us the macro. Not sure if this comment makes sense. What I'm saying is I really love this post.
It makes perfect sense, and I'm grateful for it. I wish I had more consistency in my ability to be invested in moments. When I'm there, I am undoubtedly at my most peaceful.
It means a ton to know you enjoyed this one, Holly. Thank you.
I am trying to have perspective owing to a couple of things in my own life - difficult. That's why the dandelion image is perfection - it's all in the mindful detail. XXXX
"I always wonder how that must be for the critter cruising across a cold slab of stone, a wool rug, a pane of glass, plan of action obliterated" Me too, especially in recent years, as I feel more and more like a small being existing within a world of large forces. I try to treat them as I would like to be if I were them.
I think that is exactly the right approach, Rita. Good to remember that everything has a role and a right to respect. Thanks for offering that to the world, Rita.
I am a keeper of seeds, but as you probably remember, that spider would have been flattened by my coffee mug! That's a carry-over from my Mom and sister, both arachnophobes, and I am trying to do better! However, one small spider landed on my shoulder the other morning in my bathroom, heading down from a light fixture on his web, and I killed it in knee-jerk fashion right away, then felt bad afterwards. Oh well...I do rescue stink bugs, lady bugs, etc...but not the spiders~working on it!
I would not have remembered that! Sounds like you come by it honestly (such a quirky expression). Sounds like you are taking small steps, which is, often, the most we can expect of ourselves. Our girl down under has had to learn to adapt to Huntsmen spiders. I give her so much credit for that! Appreciate the comment, Carolyn. 🧡
I have to work at liking spiders, but I treat them as you do. I grew up in a conservative Christian household. We didn’t dance, drink, play cards, or go to the movies. However, for some still mystifying reason, the first movie I went to with my parents was about a monster tarantula that was terrorizing a town. I laugh about that every time I think about it. I wish I had thought to ask my parents why they chose to take us to that movie. Spiders in general, get a bad rap, and that movie certainly reinforced it.
Darrell, what a great story! I wonder if they thought you'd never want to see another movie if they started with that one. Was it Earth vs. The Spider? I just did a quick search.
Evidently, some study or other ranked spiders as among the most despised of all of our creatures, even more than cockroaches. I'm glad you're trying to overcome the fears. Thanks for spending some time here.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WtU1YYxQXJw
This is the trailer.
“…how even at such distance my breath caused it to glide across the wooden surface of the chest of drawers, where I captured it beneath a magnifying glass to get a better look at it later. I think about how, in the morning, I will let it go. ”
The second thing to be carefully contained and held, even if briefly. I respond to the drift of this seed, the quiet, the way it wafted in and about, carried by even the smallest of movements of air. But this moment of noticing it….of thinking about the irony and the odds and the journey…of tucking it safely to look at more closely later…of knowing it will be blown free again….this feels very much like a metaphor for writing and for the way you approach story (and humanity). There’s something quite nice about that, about this single seed that you stopped to notice, the quiet of it (despite the hum in your ears). Great magnifying glass photo.
I was caught by this line, too, Amy. I think you're right about it--the capturing and observing and eventual letting go--being a metaphor for writing and Elizabeth's observant approach to story and humanity.
❤️
Not gonna lie - y'all are making me smile. 😊
Life, despite its many challenges, brings us much that is marvelous, doesn't it? Amy, I so appreciate how you notice detail, then weave it back on itself to hold it in place, not always trimming away the threads that dangle, just leaving them to serve the purposes they are meant to serve. It is a unique gift. This is a thoughtful contribution, as always. Thank you. (The magnifying glass belonged to my mother, and maybe hers?)
Translating this bleary-eyed, too-early-in-the-morning example of grateful realization/appreciation of the connection of the here (or there...) and now to the wonder of our/all very existence is a lovely way to start a day that is bound to be full of just plain god-awful examples of being a sentient (sic...hahahahaha) being in 2024, id est: the "unthinkable" horror becoming the comme-il-faut of 2024....
Thank you, Elizabeth.
Kippy, a practice I have (and it is very much a practice, not perfected) is that of recognizing connections. I just read a Ray Bradbury short story called A Sound of Thunder which draws attention to this through fiction. Braiding Sweetgrass, a more contemporary work of non-fiction (Kimmerer) does the same. Both compelling, and I wish more people were inspired to read them. May we all see what is still good! There's a lot of it.
So appreciate your thoughtful input here. Thanks.
I love your renegade mind and how it evolved into many parables... The parable of the seed and the parable of the spider all tell stories about how your nighttime was interrupted by possible insomnia or of things around you..... I don't think the spider or the seed are the real elements of your writing... I think a creative mind often struggles to shut down at night.... But even with your mini parables... Your followers were entertained fully....
Oooh, renegade! I'll take it. :) I am. nothing if not committed to my promises, Barry, so there was a strong streak of that going on. That there were unexpected events to take me where I wanted to go, even if from a different path, was a gift.
Always delighted when you turn up on my pages. Hope all is well.
Good for you for listening to Sanity! One of my fave moments in a book is from Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat Pray Love”, and she is on the floor in the middle of the night, crying her eyes out about her marriage and although she’s not religious, ask God what she should do. And she says that God replied with the sensible thing: “go back to bed, Elizabeth”!
Hah!! Yes, yes! I remember that scene, and the practical nature of it. It's so easy to attach ourselves to our vision of the outcome, or to cling when we need to release. Thank you for bringing that one back for me.
Perhaps the Universe's nudge towards rest, perhaps just a spider and a seed but I prefer thinking it to be the quiet nudge! Thanks for your wonderful musings!
I prefer that, too, Susan, or at least I prefer recognizing that I was given a choice and for once (praise be!) I noticed the invitation and accepted. Thanks for the comment!
It’s a beautiful thing when you listen and pivot accordingly. I’m still working on this. Beautiful reminder Elizabeth. I write this as my left ear roars. Tinnitus has been my constant companion for years. I’m currently tuned to a low grade buzz. A bumble bee.
It is, isn't--beautiful to listen and pivot accordingly. :)
My band name: Listen & Pivot 😂 Seriously, yes. Yes! So beautiful. It will always be a work in progress for me, I'm sure, but I like to think I'm making a few small strides.
Tinnitus is tricky. Mine is more of a high-pitched ringing. I like the idea of a bumble bee, but not in my ear. It's one of those ailments that elicits a giant shrug from the healthcare industry. I suppose there's value in the recommended relaxation therapies.
Great to see you here, Lindsay.
I never cared much for spiders. Then I belatedly discovered Charlotte’s Web. It came to mind as I read about you rescuing Charlotte.
I'll go with that, Rona. Or maybe one of her many offspring. :)
Oh I’m very much an arachnid rescuer and I currently live in the world of large spiders, as in tarantulas. I saved one just the other day from overstaying a brief visit into my house as a matter of fact. I’ve always had an affinity for spiders and snakes; maybe because I have always liked the underdogs of the world. There are so many different sorts of other spiders here in Central America that if one isn’t careful, one’s house can quickly turn into one’s House of Horrors within a matter of a few days with all sorts of webs suspended in the craziest of places. One not only sweeps floors but ceilings and corners as well. When the dry season sets in within a few weeks, I’ll start watering the grass outside at night to help out the big boys burrowed in the ground. The goal, of course, is to keep them outside so they won’t venture indoors looking for water in my shower or sink. Method in madness there. See?
Enjoyed your read. Nice change of pace from politics. Thanks for the mental floss.
Much appreciated! You have next-level spider rescuing where you are, not to mention house cleaning. One of my kids is in Australia and has had to adapt to the size of some of their most offensive insects, namely spiders and cockroaches. I keep telling her it builds character.
So good to know this landed well for you. Thanks for sharing.
I’ll have to admit that the cucarachas and scorpions will end up dead. I don’t like cockroaches and scorpions and my little dog wouldn’t mix well. To they will end up dead if I see them.
I think this was lovely - and I too Catch and Release unless the spiders are really large as they sometimes can be. (If I can gauge their facial expression I must seal off the area till further help is available but I don't hurt them either). Your descriptions of 3 am resonate - very much. The moon is almost full and that generally impacts my sleep in some way.
Haha - gauge their facial expression! Brava to you for bringing in reinforcements when needed, Sue. I've wrestled with inconsistent sleep for years, and the moon does seem to play a part. In this instance, it was just my commitment to a looming [ahem...self-imposed] deadline.
Thanks for the comment.
A great change of pace; they are so refreshing and I hope it worked that way for you.
One of those very seeds captured itself in some of my fresh varnish on Friday and was perfectly preserved although that was not the plan...I left it. Bees and spiders I have to save. Houseflies and biting bugs, not so much. Stinkbugs never.
Having just returned from diving, seated unclothed on the toilet, bottom level of my house in Cozumel, I pushed the door closed in the tiny room to find a tarantula the diameter of a small dinner plate. Never before or since was there such an intake of breath.
Saved, with assistance.
J
Oh....gah! A plate-sized tarantula would absolutely grab my attention and steal my air! From a distance, though, isn't it so darned impressive that the planet supports a spider that big?!
I'll do what I can to save many insects. Ant season gets the better of me, even though I have tried to react differently at times. Mosquitoes, bless their sucky little souls, don't get much support from me, I'm afraid, though I do usually offer up an apology afterwards.
Saved with assistance - there's a mantra for us. Thanks for sharing, Janice.
Beautiful. This piece's attention to the present, to the small and wondrous is a gift of a moment. So much here--the spider, the seed, the interruption of "the rain of fingers on keyboard," the voice of sanity--is in itself, a return to the wide world really--in that way that the micro shows us the macro. Not sure if this comment makes sense. What I'm saying is I really love this post.
It makes perfect sense, and I'm grateful for it. I wish I had more consistency in my ability to be invested in moments. When I'm there, I am undoubtedly at my most peaceful.
It means a ton to know you enjoyed this one, Holly. Thank you.
I thought of Thoreau’s first spider in a new house.
Thank you, Elizabeth.
Such a fabulous line, that one, but the spider always seemed loneliest of all.
This perfectly puts the coming week in the USA in perspective.
How beautiful the dandelion seed is in close-up. Like a world in a grain of sand...
Perspective...I keep returning there. I have a lot to learn even as I realize how far I've already come. Thank you, Prue.
I am trying to have perspective owing to a couple of things in my own life - difficult. That's why the dandelion image is perfection - it's all in the mindful detail. XXXX