Just For A Moment: The Big Tiny World

“Have you ever noticed
the leaves before they completely snap
out of their little valises …
they’re only just peeking out…
making a pale green mist in the air…
My grandmother used to say that mist
was the tree showing us,
for just a very few days once a year,
what oxygen really looks like.”

________________
CODA
The lovely painting is by David Parfitt who lives in Coleford near Bath. You can see more of his watercolors and oils here.

3 Responses to “Just For A Moment: The Big Tiny World”

1. Ghostdreams says:

   May 30, 2008 at 2:29 pm

   What a lovely painting!
   Bath is one of my favorite places to visit in the world. When I was stationed in the U.K. I took every opportunity to get down to Bath just because it's such a beautiful city. The surrounding area holds a beauty that is beyond awesome and the people there are incredibly friendly.
   (Outside of Ireland, I've not met such an amazing amount of “storytellers.”)
   I also love the poem you've posted with it.
   Your poem brought me back to the stories and things that my grandma and grandpa used to tell me (gave me an immense feeling of the “warm and fuzzy”). Lot's of good memories!
   You've really brightened up my day, which is such a nice thing to experience today – we got hit by terrible T-Storms and Tornadoes last night. Luckily the city I'm in was missed but we have a lot of tree's down, massive amounts of yard cleanup needed, etc.
   Thanks so much for the post Doc! It really cheered me up!
   Ghost
2. archangel says:

   May 31, 2008 at 6:28 am

   tx Ghostdreams. I only know Bath from “wife of….” Chaucer. lol. But thank you for telling about it and about the storytellers…there's them that learnt it and 'there's them that were burn withe th' giftie.'

   There's this thing about T-storms isnt there?; they are deeply primeval somehow, compelling and moving, like great crashing symphonic openings or closings… and scary all at the same time. Numinous is the word that comes to mind. I know what you mean about living in a tornado alley; I grew up in one also. When people talk about running, i always think about running for shelter instead of running in marathons. lol

   I am glad you are safe. That's the most important. Thank you for telling about your grandparents. Some people never knew their own people for one reason or another. You are double blessed, I think if you know your far back people. Some of the elders were far too distant with their own grandchildren willfully. But some were nearly archetypal in touching just the right chord from time to time, or almost always.

   You remind me that I wish all persons had such dear and funny immortals in memory. I try to share mine with others, so those who were somehow exiled from the oral tradition can be brought into that layer of the primal psychic family too. There were serious shortfalls and deficits in our family, but there were stories, many many.

   I've often thought even the tiniest story, or the biggest, longest one, can be life-saving, life giving… just the right medicine if received at just the right time. Fortunately for stories, I find many humans of a certain psychic gait have lots of 'right times' to recieve them.

   You too dear Ghostdreams
   dr.e
3. Ghostdreams says:

   May 31, 2008 at 2:08 pm

   Hiyas Doc!
   Thank you for the reply!
   I'm sure you've heard about this but in case you haven't …there's a tradition in the Northwestern United States (and parts of Western Canada) called SisiWiss (SisiWiss = “sacred breath”).
   It's a medicine path and a healing tradition. It's a mix of several things but the key components that are at the core of the tradition are:
   1) Storytelling – storytelling is beyond important. I've sat for as long as seven days in the long house to hear the complete rendition of a given story. The storytellers are trained from their youth (as early as three years old) and each story has a “healing” to it. Today the stories are told in both the Native language (Nootka, Swinomish, etc.) and English. They're considered a vital part of the medicine and no one can study the medicine without learning the stories.
   2) The “lighting up” ceremonies – which is done with candles (they used to use a type of oil lamp that burned whale oil if I remember right)
   I've seen what stories can do for people. They, in and of themselves can provide amazing healing.
   There's been many people who have been cured of some pretty intense medical conditions via this medicine path (as well as folks suffering psychological disturbances and mental illness).
   I, personally, was impressed by the word from their Native language that means depression. I'm afraid I can't spell it nor pronounce it as it belongs to a clicking language and I could never quite get it down but the literal translation for the word “depression” means “a person living in a house of shadows.”
   Ain't that the truth!?
   I wish English hadn't lost her “conceptual” roots but …
   Thanks again for the good wishes and take care,
   Ghost

   Ps I am not originally from a Tornado area. I am from San Francisco, the Kraken of earthquakes area. Earthquakes don't really scare me (ok ok not true.. I was in downtown SF for the big one in 89 and I was scared in a big way but generally speaking – tremors etc. don't bother me) but these Tornados? THEY are scary! Apparently I should have made sure that I had a basement and I don't have one! I was stuck in this little cubicle area near my front door with two massively large canines (who were panicking!) for hours the other night. Wasn't fun BUT we are still here (me and the two massively large canines) and that's the good part.
   Last on the news, no one died. I don't know how considering a whole town was evacuated and another town lost all of it's power..massive flooding…tree's flying…
   All that aside, I'm thankful for god's break to the state in terms of human lives.
   I miss my Earthquakes.
   This is possibly the longest postscript in history. (blush grin)
   Sorry about that. I got carried away.