A series of essays.....
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| SAYING GOOD MORNING TO OUR LIVE OAK TREE THAT LIVES ON THE HILL |
.....as seen through my eyes!
By: Jacqueline E. Hughes
A spider's web, much to my surprise, wrapped itself around my shoulders this morning! I was on a mission to capture the early morning light filtering through the tree limbs of the sole Live Oak tree that lives on the hill in our backyard. Thinking how snow will, more than likely, never caress the furrowed, gray bark of its sturdy trunk or the irregular bends of its thickening branches, I snapped its picture. Continuing to lightly brush my shoulder to release any remnants of the silky shawl I’d recently acquired, a few more pictures were taken and thoughts explored before entering the house through the sliding glass doors of the lanai.
Have you ever wondered about the nocturnal activity that surrounds you while you are sleeping all snuggled within the soft folds of bed linens and dreams of the past, present, and future? As crickets chirp and leaping frogs engage in suicide plummets from roofs and the frames of screen enclosures into the awaiting trees and shrubbery in order to feed.....on crickets? The artistic spider 🕷 weaves its smooth, glossy, and highly sophisticated tapestry of threads stretching from one ceramic pot to another; from one screen enclosure brace to the aluminum door frame of one of the two exits leading out to the tree on the hill. Walking through that delicate tapestry was like entering a new dimension in time and space; a porthole by which one transitions from the darkness of night into the morning’s light!
Have you ever taken the time to notice how truly delicate human life can be? Or, how often we take our lives for granted? We really do. Tony, our neighbor of over eighteen years, shuffled towards me two weeks ago, death grip on the bars of his walker and, Margarita, his wife, a shadow hovering close behind him. Slowly he made his way to my side and showed me the ‘industrial zipper’ of stitches that tracked down the back of his partially shaved head. Tony had been having bad headaches approaching Thanksgiving Day and had scheduled a doctor’s appointment for the following Tuesday. He slipped on the floor of the bathroom in the early morning hours of Friday and banged his head on the vanity before kissing the cold, dark tiles. Being a healthy, active man in his mid-fifties, he was allowed to return home on Sunday to recuperate from brain surgery performed in the wee hours of Saturday morning. They had removed a small tumor they’d picked up on during his MRI. He is doing quite well now, his doctors say. There is a good chance that if he’d waited until his Tuesday appointment...the outcome may not have been the same.
Have you ever looked into the depths of a child’s eyes (your grandchild's eyes, perhaps!) and felt you could dive into them as if they were bottomless pools of untapped knowledge, uncharted hope, and limitless love?
Have you ever questioned yourself for any reason? From..”Should I have purchased that dress 👗 in navy blue instead of red?" To.. "Would working for the established lawyer in downtown Orlando be a more prudent job opportunity than working for an established builder in Celebration?” We make our choices along the way and to second guess them after the fact would be the imprudent thing to do. Acceptance of our personal selections in life and working hard to make them fit us comfortably has been the joy of living in a ‘free country’ awash with personal opportunities and benefits. But, what if the ideals behind the words free, opportunities, and benefits were stripped away from us? What if we were all made to wear navy blue with no other color choice to be had?
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| COOL BLUES AND PLAYING WITH REFLECTIONS |
Have you ever thought about losing your freedom and the individual rights we share as citizens of the United States of America? Or, wondered about the wisdom of old men with shocks of white hair and harboring the need for greed? Especially, within the last year or so? I certainly have, and more often than I care to admit. I know that change can be counteracted by more change and good shall rise from the depths of evil and that it requires patience and lots of hard work to make that happen. If there are enough of us who care, we will make it happen. Most importantly, we must make it happen...
Have you ever woken up in a place that was not your own bed or bedroom and wondered where in the world you were? Each day that goes by is prefaced by wondering what kind of a world are we living in today and questioning my grasp of ‘normalcy’ which has shifted from stability to trying to understand ‘jealous negativism’ on the part of an individual who should never have been allotted the power and trust of the highest office in the country. This is not the life I’d signed up for or expected for myself and my children. This is not the room I fell asleep in last night.
I keep my camera on the oak library table that stands tall against the flat wall nearest to the sliding glass doors. It’s easy and convenient to snag it on my way out the door on an early morning photo shoot. After embracing the warmth of the morning sun, walking through a spider’s web, and capturing my ‘snowless’ oak tree bathed in golden light, the refreshing blues of the swimming pool caught my attention. Like an Impressionistic painting by Claude Monet, the cool, colorful reflections of the world that surround me come to life and are captured within my camera....for the time being.
Finally, when the ‘cold light’ of a firefly enclosed within the laced fingers of our hands emits its surreal glow like minute rays of green-tinted sunshine for all to see, do we not wonder in amazement at how special this life is?
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| PROTECTION OF THE GODS |
Turning away from the living pool of water, I slowly turned into the sun that was now gently peaking out over the roofline. Resembling a magnificent palm frond, its rays seemed to be protecting our house like a giant gossamer curtain possibly spun by the same spider that impressed me only a few moments earlier. My heart was full; my soul appeased.
Have you ever felt so loved that you knew that everything would be okay; that it would be worth while giving ourselves and the future another chance at getting it right?
Copyright © 2017 by Jacqueline E. Hughes
All rights reserved
