Hope Springs Eternal

I figured it was Shakespeare who said that, but I was wrong. It was Alexander Pope. Don't know much about Mr Pope but according to Wikipedia he is the third most quoted writer in The Oxford Book of Quotations after Shakespeare and Tennyson, of course. Heady company. However I don't want to talk about Pope, I want to talk about hope.

Last week I tossed off a line about about a Chilean miner trapped in a mine collapse who said if he got out alive he wanted to go to Graceland. I tossed that line off last week and didn't realize the importance and power of that stance. Here that man was, a mostly uneducated miner, trapped deep underground, talking about what he wanted to do when he got out. Where was his despair? How could he have the courage to hope for such an impossible dream.  How did he conjure up the joy of looking forward?

Many spiritual teachings reins us in. Be mindful of the present. Be present. I usually try to live in the present, but not that dude, he was far and away. Hopes, plans, dreams, all are ahead of us, and all seem to drag us towards the future. Hopes for love, for health, for a peaceful death, hopes for a child's future happiness, it seems hope takes courage and a firm belief in the future.

I know Jerry always has plans out in front of him. Jerry told me once it helped keep his life from spinning away too fast. A lot of the family are anticipating a Costa Rica wedding and making plans. I know Cathy and Kenny have cruise plans. Don't they always? Otherwise I don't know much about the family beliefs. Does hope spring eternal in your life? I just learned a life lesson at a time I thought most life lessons were done and over with.

What a hopeful thought.

Then I thought about perspective;

I know cops are under a lot of fire lately, but every encounter I've ever had was fair. Whether getting a ticket, a warning, or help, it was always fair, even the time I made an illegal u-turn in front of a cop due to an unknown location and being late and being flustered, he smiled me on my way.

I finally saw the multi-millionaire owner of Online Shoes the other day and felt like a minion. He just smiled and walked through our new downtown location. He did nothing, but I still felt like the distance between us was so great I was a minion. I have a new perspective on those funny yellow characters Connor had me draw and color properly -- repeatedly.

My downtown parking has gone from $15.86 to $17.06 a day. My hike to work is farther up the hill. I found the new smoking area. I love the twenty foot height of windows and ceiling, and we are a bit more cramped, however, I'm still grateful for a job and health insurance. And vacations! I'm going to see Janice and Art in February. Plans for the future sure feel good.

I know I have night time driving blindness, that diminished capability of the aging. What I didn't know until driving to breakfast with Claire the other day was when it is half foggy with glaring sunshine my capability was diminished in the daytime also. I had to squint and fumble along and ease out carefully.

After I washed my car and cleaned weeks of highway rain smears off my windshield my visibility improved. Day and night.

Speaking of fog, it was low slung the other morning, mostly hovering over Possession Sound, but Mt Rainier was towering, visible, gleaming, and extraordinarily beautiful. What a beautiful perspective.

I don't know much about sports except everyone is happy for the Seahawks.  Connor is now six years old and playing basketball, well playing basketball in the loosest meaning of the word. He can run the court with the best of them and duck when the ball is headed his way.

Julia, I have been reading about birds in my new local paper. A lot. Owls, geese, swans, eagles, the New Years Day Audubon Bird Count, the drunk-zebra-finches-who-can't-sing study, sick coastal birds and no one knows why, then I saw Mike Noland's photograph of a wake of buzzards. I'm not a birder, but I think it is time you came back for a visit. I know you have birds in Arkansas but I think the Pacific Northwest birds are calling your name. Tell Tal I promise not to drive down the wrong side of the road. Did you count birds on New Years Day?

Sufi perspective via my friend Lynn: "The leader is the one who listened, watched for signs, was attentive to the inner world." I liked that because it feels akin to me, and this one also; "Those who have gone home before us and those who remain and keep the fires burning." Sufi wisdom, Sufi perspective.

And from the book Life after Life by Jill McCorkle; "Unpack your heart, get rid of the things you no longer need."

But have the courage to keep hope alive. Hope springs eternal.