The hawk was in the other tree last night as I drove home from work. The world is full of such small loveliness, if we watch for it, take note of it. Was the winter really so mild? Watching it as close as I did, certainly it did not seem to be too bad. What is better or worse than the usual winter? I don't know. It was fine enough for me. And spring! - lovely spring! Only a real grump could complain. Flowers and leaves and birds and great green patches of lawn. If we want what we get, what more could we wish? I walked last night, a good long tromp. The sun stays with us later and later. Dew on the grass this morning glistens like a cat's eye in the night. Again today, a distant grey gauze. No hawk in either tree. There are clumps of mud on Highway E, evidence that some farmers have been in the fields. I don't see that they have completed any serious work yet, however. My breath catches. I am seeing a vision - headed south on Watson Street in a grey van, very clearly the visage of General Custer. The hat, the hair, the beard. It is a fleeting picture, but real. Custer in Ripon? Well maybe only a close lookalike, but startling nonetheless.
This simply beautiful. Thoreau wouldn't find a word to be ashamed of in there.
Thank you, and have a splendid time in Iceland.
Posted by: Abdul-Walid of Acerbia | April 14, 2005 at 07:05 AM
How else can you wrap your exhileration around the coming of spring? It evokes such a tumble of emotions and sensations. It's hard not to feel in your bones the truth of our origins amidst the enthusiasm of the life around us. And it's such a wonderful experience to let yourself be deeply a part of it.
Enjoy your trip to Iceland.
Posted by: miguel | April 14, 2005 at 09:07 PM
Abdul-Walid--Thanks. Your high praise humbles me. As you know, or will find out over the course of the upcoming month, we did have an excellent time in Iceland.
Posted by: Tom Montag | May 02, 2005 at 04:07 PM
Hi, Miguel--I think some of us can enter that swirl which is life around us, can feel the pulsing throb of the universe; and some of us can't. And those of us who can't, I think, make some bad decisions about how to live our lives. Certainly I'm one who must jump with both feet into the green tumble of spring.
Posted by: Tom Montag | May 02, 2005 at 04:12 PM