I was walking through the park this morning marveling at the new foliage that has transformed the canopy into a bright green wonderland. Loca was behaving herself and was at my side. We saw ahead of us Sugar Pie scampering around. A woman passed us with a bright smile on her face and we returned the favor. As we circled around and started on our way back, we passed the same woman again and she radiated and said to us, “Enjoy this beautiful day!”
Quite a different tune than evil crazed woman with two mop dogs yesterday in the park and goes to show you that you, and only you, must be the rock, the industrious spider as in:
Itsy Bitsy Spider climbed up the rain spout
Out came the rain and washed the spider out
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
Then Itsy Bitsy spider climbed up the spout again
It also falls in step with the adage my father always told us in Ladino that I can’t remember exactly how it went in that ancient language (I wish I could) – but the saying is the darkest hour is just before dawn. There is this saying in every language and every culture. And what it means is there is hope. When I first took over as a manager I said that my mission was to lead by example and to offer hope. That was met with doubt as to whether that was in fact what they wanted me to be doing, but it’s what I saw my role as.
Industry, as the murderer in Kathryn Bigelow’s The Weight of Water said last night as we were watching the rest of this movie, assuages what the heart does not want to acknowledge. Sometimes industry also helps us move pass rough waters by focusing on the things we have control over rather than those that we do not. The moral of the spider is things (or people) will come along that will try to knock you off your path, but you and your determination must stay the course.
There are many lessons to be learned in life from nursery rhymes, fables, stories. I feel like I am learning them all over again every day that Tin has arrived. My favorite is the Emperor Has No Clothes. Always a classic.