Seasons at Demeter: Small Things (copy) (copy) (copy)
“If you can’t be happy with the prospect of having lunch, you’ll never be happy.”
The screened porch is new. This is one of our first evenings sitting here after the renovation. We’re on one level now, planning to “age in place”. Its warm but not oppressive. We sip wine and chat, watching the sunset. Below the porch is a pollinator garden that I planted in the spring. Its done well. We can see all sorts of different colored wildflowers. Butterflies flutter around the blooms. At the edge of the garden. a half-grown rabbit appears. It nibbles clover and runs around in the grass, enjoying itself. It’s a peaceful scene.
I catch a flash of brown in the corner of my eye. Silent wings unfold and obscure the rabbit. When the red tail flies away into a pine on the other side of our pond, the rabbit is gone. The hawk is too far away for us to tell if it caught its meal. “Oh! I didn’t expect that! Wow!”
“I think the rabbit got away. It ducked into the flowers.”
“I couldn’t tell.”
We sit for several minutes and savor the experience, letting the wonder and ambiguity of what we just saw wash over us. Joneen is first to speak. “You know, we’re pretty easy. It doesn’t take much to entertain us and make us happy.”
“True.”
As I reflect on that thought, the above quote comes to mind. A friend and counsellor shared it with me several times but never told me where it originated. Mr. Google can’t seem to identify the author. It’s a simple statement that voices a profound truth. The vast majority of us will never win the lottery, become president, be an MVP, or start a tech company that will make us billionaires. We might fantasize about those things but they’re unlikely to happen. I don’t buy lottery tickets, by the way, figuring I’ve already won several times in my life – my wife, my kids, my health, my friends and my profession to name a few. From the outside looking in, those folks don’t seem particularly happy, anyway.
Maybe the only way to find happiness is in the moment, to be open to those unexpected things that happen every day and to realize that happiness and joy are mostly dispensed in small packages. Put enough of those small packages in the bank and you’re going to have a darn good life – no lottery required. If we’re busy fantasizing about the big thing and bemoaning what we don’t have, we’ll be unaware of those moments and they’ll pass us by…an empty bank account of the heart.
I may not have everything, but I have a lot. I have a cool breeze blowing through an open window as I sleep; the sun breaking through the morning fog with a brilliant blue sky above and fall colors on the ridges; friends with whom to share dinner and laughter; a grandkid’s squeals of delight as he reels in a fish; a wife who’ll watch the sunset with me and argue about what colors we see in the clouds.
I have a doe and fawn in the yard at sunrise; kids chasing fence lizards in the woodpile; fewer squirrels in my driveway chewing on my truck’s wiring (thanks to our resident hawk); a bullfrog to serenade me to sleep and coyotes and a German Shepherd to serenade me awake in the middle of the night. I have a family that loves me despite my quirks and shortcomings and the privilege of occasionally being able to help folks that are sick. I live in the greatest region in the greatest country on earth. I have enough.
A good life isn’t a perfect life. Things go wrong: there are always bumps in the road. I could crank out several paragraphs about the things that aggravate me or could be better, but I won’t. No need to dwell on the negative and give it more power than it deserves. We could do with more rain, A.I. may kill us (but not today) and there are plenty of crazies out there. Better to put down my phone, turn off the news and watch the hummers at the feeder. Why worry about things I can’t control?
If you can’t be happy with the prospect of having lunch, you will never be happy. Thank you, Bud Harris. Maybe this was your quote all along.
I’m thinking a grilled cheese with pepper jack and cheddar…
