Aftermath

If you are like me, this week's special election has left you with a crippling political hangover. All voices sound a little shriller and you find yourself listening for the hidden meaning in everything--even the weather report, or a request to pass the salt. You bark when answering the phone, and don't stop to correct your typos when making stream of consciousness comments on the blogs of imagined foes. Or maybe that's just me. But the tone has been pretty angry, and anger takes its toll.

 

In saner times, I am fond of an anecdote from the Muslim tradition where a man seeks the advice of the Prophet on how to live a spiritual life. He says, "Don't be angry." Pressed for more advice, the Prophet repeats, "Don't be angry." In seeking to track this anecdote down online to its original source, I found various versions, but I also happened upon this further spiritual instruction:

Three ways to control your temper and anger:

1. Say ta'awuz (ask for protection from the devil)
2. Do wudu (ritual cleansing) or drink water
3. Lie down on the floor

 I can attest to the effectiveness of number three. I can no longer see the monitor, or reach the keyboard.

Achieving liftoff

Yesterday was it--the day Spring became a reality instead of a theoretical possibility. Everyone has their own gauge. For some it's the first robin, but as far as I'm concerned, the early bird gets frostbite. For some it's the first snowdrops--but they get ahead of themselves, too. I look for the first sunny day in the 60s, and the first blue heron. Yesterday--double whammy.

If the heron has come back, you know it wasn't some flighty decision--they can, after all, barely fly. They seem to be a "proof of concept" design on the part of nature, rather than an actual production model. Watching them lumber up from the shallows is like watching a grainy newsreel of Wilbur and Orville at Kitty Hawk. They graze the water with each downbeat, like a seaplane powered by oars. Both the principles of lift and the grace of God appear to be necessary to accomplish launch.

Just so my spirits. The blue body of winter is almost too massive for my wingspan to support. But give me sufficient open water, a little solar power assist, and up I go--eventually.