The Power of the World

The power of the world; the known and the unknown. What bush is out my back window? What is over the horizon? What can be weighed and measured? What can't? What I can see; the moon, the stars the sun and what's living in the tree stump, a world of mites, grubs, and lichen. Worlds beyond my ken. I am reading a book about the exploration of Mt Everest. I know none of it. Not the people, the passes, the religion. Not the clothing, the books, the prayers. I'm ignorant.

I saw the movie Life of Pi and it mentioned the Mariana Trench the deepest place on Earth, then the book about Mt Everest the highest place on Earth. The power of the world to amaze. The power of the world to exhaust. The power of the world to entertain. The wonder of the world is two fold; how it is the same and how it is different.

What is taught, what is gained, what is feigned. Who stands tall enough to say they know what the power of the world is all about? Who stands still enough to hear the world explain itself?

I'd had a gloriously crap week.

I was late to Claire's Dr appointment when the doctor was going to tell her whether she had more cancer. I didn't want her to stand alone for bad news. She stood alone for the good news.

I was late for a Dr appointment. When they sent the letter I didn't read it because I knew when my appointment was. When they called I didn't listen because I knew when my appointment was.

I missed my lunch with Jo-Anne; When I texted and said I'm here are you? She texted back that is tomorrow, Jan, not today.

I have enough gray hair to not trust my memory, my eyesight, or my reading skills any more.

I cut my finger.

I had car trouble: it took three sons, two calls to Triple A, the crew at Walt's and $89.00 to get me back on the road.

In the power of the world of tornadoes, volcanoes, earth quakes, eruptions, bombings, shootings, collapsing bridges and circling sharks, in the history of the world this is a bad day?

Once I stood in the middle of an immense wheat field and felt the power of the world, felt the connection to Earth. I stood transfixed by the quiet and being able to hear the sounds of wind rippling the ripe grains. The grasshoppers and other insects chirping. Watching the wheat as it moved ever so slowly toward the sun, the sun calmly and with out intent reaching down, healing.

Christian went to the seaside, Gini walked the Grand Canyon. It's not beauty, wonder, or creativity that draws humans, it's the power of the world, whether tulip fields, the Grand Tetons, or 80 million miles of highway.

I felt something primal and transformative in that 1,000 acres of maturing wheat as I realized I had nothing to do with the immensity of the world. The beauty of the world. The power of the world. Without intent, I existed, and existing was enough.