Tag: Rainer Maria Rilke

The Turning Point

barnstormingblogLeave a comment
photo by Josh Scholten
Desire change. Be enthusiastic for that flame  
in which a thing escapes your grasp 
while it makes a glorious display of transformation. 
That designing Spirit, the master mind of all things on earth 
loves nothing so much in the sweeping movement of the dance 
as the turning point.
~Rainer Maria Rilke
I do not like change; I am usually dragged kicking and screaming through every transition into something new and unfamiliar.  Even a haircut can be traumatic.  I’m not into retail therapy because the tried and true in my closet is just fine, thank you very much.  A new food whose name I can’t pronounce (what exactly is quinoa anyway?) becomes highly suspect.  The disappearance of a favorite coffee from the store is cause for mourning.
Most people would call it “stuck in a rut.”
I prefer to think of it as “constancy” in an unstable world.
I do know better though.  I acknowledge every moment is transformational, nothing remains as it is, all is changing so quickly I can’t keep it in my grasp, hard as I try.
It is time I give myself over to the dance of life, allowing myself to be dipped and whirled about, spun dizzy, carried by the momentum of the Spirit.
Every day is a turning point that I can and will navigate despite my reticence; “like Ginger Rogers who does everything Fred Astaire does, but backwards and in high heels”  (Bob Thaves).
Except for the part about high heels.

It is Time

barnstormingblog2 Comments
photo by Josh Scholten

“Lord, it is time.  The summer was very big.  Lay thy shadow on the sundials, and on the meadows let the winds go loose.  Command the last fruits that they shall be full; give them another two more southerly days, press them on to fulfillment and drive the last sweetness into the heavenly wine.”
~  Rainer Maria Rilke

The wind is shifting, the sky filling with moody clouds, the temperatures dropping.  The fruit still hanging is being naturally chilled.  There is something about a near-frost that sweetens the flesh of the grapes, the apples, the pears and the corn cobs as if each is gathering up every sugar molecule for self-protection.  We are the beneficiaries.

October is time for a hurried harvest before the hard freeze hits, leaving all in ruin, turned to mush.  The window of time to accomplish the gathering and preserving has narrowed.  No longer is the picking done leisurely with a temptation for it to be put off until tomorrow.  Today is the day.

It is time.  All is ripe.

photo by Josh Scholten

Reckless Blooming

barnstormingblog2 Comments

“Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke

A rainy summer yields abundant shade-loving blossoms.   Continuous cloud cover and plenty of moisture may subdue a summer mood but not in the case of begonias, fuchsia, and impatiens.  Their vivid colors are happily chanting playground rhymes, when not singing arias, reciting epic poetry, and laughing uproariously while partying hardy into the night.

If they were fragrance instead of colors, they would be a perfume shop full of perfectly coiffed matrons who trail scents behind them.  If they were tactile instead of colors, they would be plush velveteen cushions topped with purring cats with switching tails.   If they were taste instead of colors, they would be spice and pepper-hot to the point of tears.

Their reckless blooming abandon is enough in itself to make me weep, without noisy parties,  chilis, heavy scents, or ruffled cat fur needed.

No sun required.  No tropical temperatures.  No promise of 18 hours of daylight.

They simply have enough of what they need to give all they’ve got.   All I need to do is show up, open my eyes and believe.

Dog and God

barnstormingblog1 Comment
photo of Dylan by Nate Gibson

“God… sat down for a moment when the dog was finished in order to watch it… and to know that it was good, that nothing was lacking, that it could not have been made better.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke

Ten dogs have left pawprints on my heart over fifty eight years.  There was a thirteen year long dogless period while I went to college, medical school and residency, living in inhospitable urban environs, working unsuitable dog-keeping hours.  Those were sad years indeed with no dog hair to vacuum or slobber to mop up.

The first dog in our married life, a Tervuren,  rode home from Oregon on my pregnant lap in the passenger seat, all sixty five pounds of her.  I think our first born has a permanent dog imprint on his side as a result, and it certainly resulted in his dog-loving brain.   Four dogs and thirty years later, we are currently owned by a gentle hobbit-souled Cardigan Corgi who is nearing the end of his time on earth, but still has a hop in his step and a wag in his tail.

Dogs could not have been made better among God’s creations because they love unconditionally, forgive without holding a grudge and show unbounded joy umpteen times a day.    It’s true–it would be nice if they would poop only in discrete off-the-path areas, use their teeth only for dog designated chew toys, and vocalize only briefly when greeting and warning, but hey, nobody is perfect.

So to Buttons, Sammy, Sandy, Sparky, Toby, Tango, Talley, Makai, Frodo and Dylan:  God was watching when He made you and saw that it was good.

You were good for me too.

Hana–Brian and Bette VanderHaak’s dog in Japan –American or Japanese?  Doesn’t matter — she owns the chair and her family