Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
Member Is Offline
|
|
Around the Village
Thanks for the encouragement. Many of you are oldsters like me so you might enjoy this piece.
Hard Mother
Margarita, my neighbor, has a wonderful way with plants. All but a couple of her trees are rich and green and fruitful. A couple were dry,
withering. When I asked her about them she said her plants only get water if they give fruit, flowers, shade or beauty.
It made perfect sense. It is impossible to tell if a seedling will eventually produce fruit. The plant gets water and food until it is mature
enough to show it's intentions to the gardener. Sometimes even less fecund plants survive the summer without being watered -- just enough moisture in
the air from storms out over the sea that give us only false hope for rain and high humidity. Unless the unwatered trees take up too much room they
are left to die on their own.
These desert Mexicans live very close to nature; they learn from the hard mother, Mother Nature, "husband your resources or die."
It is much the same with animals. Two or three fishermen have taken up a shack on the beach as their temporary home. When I walk the beach in the
mornings I'm greeted by a couple of dogs that hang around the little shack. You might guess that the dogs "belong" to the men but it could be that
the fishermen give them a little food and water, don't kick them, run them off; the dogs feel safe near the shack.
One dog is just a pup, the other is injured and is in pitiable condition. He wants to play with the pup but his rear leg has been broken, mangled,
dangles from a misshapen hip -- the ugly scars reveal the damage but not how the dog was injured. The crippled one looks old because of his
infirmity. He is scrawny, his fur is ragged, unkempt. Probably two or three years old; I cannot seem to think of the dog as anything but old. As I
walk in the surf he struggles against the small waves, trying to keep me close to him, trying to maintain his balance on three legs. He wants only my
attention, to be petted, held, played with. The fishermen probably don't give him much food. The dog can bark but he cannot chase away intruders. It
is painfully obvious, at least to me, that the dog will not see another season in the sun. Like the barren fruit trees his maturity exposes his
inability to provide anything of value for those who could nurture him.
It's a cultural thing. Quite ironic -- the desert people here seem to bring reason and a cold practicality to the cruel business of survival. I
bring passion. My passion is not kindly. It is mean, even spiteful, perhaps because it calls my worth to question -- old and no longer robust, I
feel threatened by this callous culture. My heart is clenched like a fist -- I pray for hurricanes, huge waves to toss the carcasses of seals or fish
or whales high up on the sandy banks to feed the youngold dog. I beckon the torrential rains to nurish the fruitless trees; trees unable or unwilling
to attract the right bee, wasp or moth.
There is a kinship here between me and the dogs and the trees.
We are stubborn, useless.
We exist only to flourish, endure and annoy.
|
|
|
Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
Member Is Offline
Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
|
|
thank you for that Baja moment Bruce
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
 |
|
|
Mike Humfreville
Super Nomad
Posts: 1148
Registered: 8-26-2003
Member Is Offline
|
|
Is tree, dog destined to success or failure from its inception? We find individual values in objects that surround us, steel, stone, feather, flesh
or bone. Will we choose to care for a sad injured dog? Some will kick it as it disrupts their ability to provide for family. Some will destroy dog
with no apparent need because they can and gain pleasure. Some will care for it from some small place in our hearts not quite knowing why, laying
awake at night crying for a small beast damaged and unable to protect itself in a threatening environment. Some of us will stand back and observe,
touch perhaps, from a distance, something that wants our attention, protect some otherwise unwanted thing without risking our selves.
I feel almost split into two twin entities, both of value. In the United States I work, pay taxes and strive as best I can to contribute to a system
I mostly respect, have been raised with in an atmosphere my parents, fallouts from WW II, were tied securely to. We were spin-offs from 1900 Europe
via my great-grandparents.
I have also grown since a child with the Mexican system, in some ways even more broadly than the United States. While to new eyes it might be
difficult to see into and thus care for the Mexican system, I have loved it from the start because, I guess, I sort of grew with it as it, in a small
part, evolved.
Baja California presents a great challenge for survival. Osprey captures that challenge, that great systemic intricate interaction and writes words
into sentences we can enjoy and think about. Is the value of a shrub in itself or in the eyes of others? Or, is there an even deeper meaning?
I dropped out of Glendale HS in 1960 to write. I just didn?t know it yet or why. But I knew something was brewing, I was reflective, contemplative,
questioning the purposes of life as I knew it and very much in need of attention and I was dull to the point of dreaming I had something worth saying.
Some of us do, it turns out. We each have a unique way of speaking. The lady next door, Osprey?s Margarita, has shared her values with him and he
has appreciated those values and shared them with us. We all can win by learning from others.
Thank you Osprey.
|
|
|
Baja Bernie
`Normal` Nomad Correspondent
Posts: 2962
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: Sunset Beach
Member Is Offline
Mood: Just dancing through life
|
|
Ospry
Teared up on that one for sure.
"We exist only to florish, endure, and annoy." I do not know you but I do know that you also exist to bring pleasure and a smile to those who cross
your path. About the dog I am not sure. Most likely he is more like me and the misses is always suggesting that I do 'something' or hit the road.
Gracias!
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
|
|
|
Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
Member Is Offline
|
|
Bruce, I'm new at this. I can slow it down for you. Bigger letters, smaller words, pictures?
|
|
|
|
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
