Oct 16, 2022

  Living in Unconditional Love (84)

“Love flows from God to humans without effort:

As a bird glides through the air without moving its wings-

Thus, they go wherever they wish united in body and soul,

Yet separate in form.”

–Mechtild of Magdeburg

 

My wife Eileen died from esophageal cancer in February 2020 one year after being diagnosed, 60 years to the day that we met on Long Island. Then my brother Tom became ill, and I spent a total of six weeks being with him in Ohio, but he died in October 2020. My sister-in-law Sue Mahoney died from Covid-19 in January 2021. On top of it all stood the pandemic, locking everyone down almost two years, and even though it is abating, I wear my mask anytime I am out among people, unlike many.

10/16/2022                             Once again I have felt the deafening sounds of silence this week. Being alone in this house after the bedlam (but fun) of the past two weeks with the wee ones racing about is quite a shift. But I must admit I like the silence and the ability to walk about without watching carefully what or who I may walk on. As many have said, grandchildren are wonderful to be around, and when things get too noisy one can always hand them back to the parents. I do miss seeing them though.

It has cooled off but still no frost. I have checked with my snowplowing person, and he is still planning to plow this year.

I made a mistake a few articles ago when I claimed that that date was the 40^th anniversary of the house fire, but I was wrong (Who me? Wrong? Never say it.). The date of the fire was October 2, 1984, not 82. Oh well!

Actual dates came up because I have a 1000-gallon furnace oil tank buried in the ground behind the garage. I understand that they should be replaced long before the almost 40 years it has been there (I replaced the old one when we built the new house). So, I will get one or two 500 gallon above ground tanks instead. There are flat ones that will fit under my lower deck off the rear corner of the house so a short line can run into the house from there. It all depends on actual measurements etc. that will determine if I can fit one or two under there. I will use the oil that is in the old tank this winter, but since my primary heat comes from the heat pump on the AC unit, when the oil runs out from the old tank it won’t matter much as only the downstairs will cool down before changing lines to fire the furnace back up. I had turned off the furnace for the summer, so the tank is almost full. Yes, it is now on. I do not like to be cold in the house at my age.

This has been a beautiful week with mostly sunshine but cool weather, but the fall colors have been spectacular, much to my surprise after the dry summer. My beautiful red maple has already shed almost all leaves. The full moon has been a great nighttime view, and it is still bright out there most nights. Most of my things are ‘winterized’: water turned off, statues brought in, some covers on seats, etc. still some more to do, but not much. The bonsai will go in this coming week I believe, as the weather will get down to just about freezing, or so they say.

I am always amazed that God (through nature) keeps giving us breathtaking sights to sooth the soul, no matter what stupid things we humans do with out lives. It does take some time to pause and absorb it in though. Even though I have just about all the time there is, I still must stop, pause, and let myself relax into beauty to really see what is there right in front of my nose all the time.

Mediation

Gentle One, Your grace fills the earth in a spectacular fashion at this time of the year, as beauty surrounds us and fills us with hope and joy. We are moving into the season where parts of nature takes a rest but we humans have filled at least part of that time with various celebrations to relieve the bleakness that seems to fill nature. You have blessed us with joy and laughter and ability to find love and humor in almost any situation; this very fact is a wonder. I bow in gratitude for this spirit that infects us to find the good in all we see and do.