July 19, 2002
Random summer thoughts
For the first time in well over a month, we've had actual rainstorms. Maybe the lengthy dry period is the reason the rain has been so nice. But there's always something about summer rain that makes you want to run outside and stand in it, feeling and watching and smelling, just being a part of it all. Rain during spring is cold and commonplace, quickly becoming a nuisance. Rain during summer is an entirely different experience. (Or maybe I'm just weird. Someday I'll probably get hit by lightning because I enjoy being outside during thunderstorms.)
Continuing in the thread of summer sensations... I walked under apple trees the other day and the smell transported me back fifteen years, to childhood next door to my grandparents and their fruit orchard. At that age I just assumed everybody could take a five minute walk and enjoy fruit picked freshly from a tree. Only now that it's all gone do I realize how precious that was. Summer will always be big red cherries, orange-red apricots, and the best peaches one can imagine... hot days wandering the mountainside, playing in the 'creek,' riding motorcycles, and being genuinely carefree. (And then I partook from the Tree of Knowledge and was cast out of the Garden...heh... You know, wouldn't that part of the Genesis story be better if it were accepted as a simple allegory about the beautifully naive, sheltered paradise of a happy childhood and the subsequent process of growing up, wising up, and facing the harsh realities of life?)
Although this doesn't qualify as an Isaac-Newton-hit-on-the-head apple tree moment, I did have a thought while I was sitting there - have you ever realized how much of our food comes from the reproductive machinery of plants or animals? Think about it... seeds (grains, beans, nuts, peas), fruits, some vegetables, eggs, milk/cheese. Something to consider.
19 Jul 12:00 | Link | Category: Opinion & Thoughts