Cutting the Cord on Cleanliness
June 15, 2009
I went to the beach with a friend. I tried to only listen to her stories and not throw in a bunch of my own, but it was hard. It makes me realize how much I talk about myself, so I’m still working on cutting that cord.
The picture above was taken at a tomato festival in Chile, and made me think of an intereresting event at the beach. With the morning low tides, folks would wade out in the shallows in green muck up to their knees to go clamming. Some dug on exposed sandbars, but even that was pretty squishy. I just couldn’t do it.
“It’s fun,” my friend proclaimed. “You’ll forget about the goo and the get busy raking clams out of the rocks and seaweed.”
“Now I know why I don’t care for clams,” I said. “I wondered why they had that chewy texture.”
I confess. I like a good bath or shower. Even on a backbacking trip, I plunge myself into a cool pool of water each evening.
There have been a few times along the trail that the water has dried up. The only puddles left were foamed with bloated algae. Even after filtering and boiling the water (for drinking and cooking), it had a green tint to it.
Sometimes you have to make do with what you have. Now that I think about it…I bet I can wade in tidal goop and rake out some clams.
Perhaps HOPE is discovering that with necessity— we can change priorities.
There was a summer when the little crick out in the meadow developed a great mudhole. On a hot day, it’s exquisitely pleasant to wallow in the nice cool mud. Maybe you need som wallowing practice.
I think you are being pretty hard on yourself. You are a good listener and very generous with your attention. AND, it’s important to be willing to talk as well as to listen. YOu are such a brilliant story teller. I love to hear to what you have to say.
Hello! Just wanted to say that your blog is fab.
You’re such a lovely person.
Well, I don’t think I’d be out in that water either. I’m a chicken at heart.
I worried that I had been too much of a talker after I went walking with you a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to kick myself for blathering on about my stuff and not asking you about yours. You were very good at asking me what was going on in my life and prompting me with questions. I think you’re a great listener.
Hooray.
Thanks Lisa. Now, if I could just convince Cowboy Fan that I’m a great listener….