My goal this year is to be happy HERE on the the moon. The story below helped one day in my transition.
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| Sweetheart with a DIY telescope |
A young bride went to be with her husband at an army camp on the edge of a desert. Housing was scarce and costly. All they could afford was a small cabin near an Indian village. The 115-degree heat was unbearable in the daytime. The wind blew constantly, spreading dust and sand over everything. The days were long and lonely. When her husband was ordered into the desert for two weeks of maneuvers, she just couldn’t bear the living conditions any longer, and she wrote to her mother that she was coming home. An almost immediate reply included these lines:
Two men look out from prison bars;
One saw the mud, the other saw the stars.
She read the lines over and over. All right, she would look for the stars.
She
determined to make friends with her neighbors, the Indians. She admired
their artful weaving and pottery work and asked them to teach her. As
soon as they sensed her interest was genuine, they were most willing.
She became fascinated with their culture, their history—everything about
them. The desert changed from a desolate, forbidding place to a world
of wondrous beauty.
What
had changed? Not the desert, not her environment; her own attitude
transformed a miserable experience into a highly rewarding one. (From Bits and Pieces, Vol. C no. 5, pp. 21–23.) Reference
5 comments:
Well, we do have beautiful starry skies here! I totally understand where you are coming from and I love this story. When we moved here I called my mom and told her I felt like I was being cast out of the Garden of Eden into the barren ugly world. After years of trying really hard to see the beauty of the desert I do actually see it now, so it can be done! I still don't love the creepy stuff, but you can't have it all right?
I guess I am the opposite, I love the desert. I have lived many places in the US mostly with cold weather, so when my hubby graduated and asked me where he should pursue a job I mentioned the southwest, and I think we have come to the most beautiful part of the Sonoran Desert. We have vegetation that flowers in May and it actually cools down in the evening to about high 80's and the kids play until dark and then go swimming at night. I love that we can see all the stars at night and don't have to bundle up to see them. I love the desert. Thanks again for the talk. Sometimes it is hard to see the stars.
That's a great story! Good counsel for all of us.
=)
While we gaze at the stars....I'm still dreaming...and it still includes good hair and a couple of more inches ;) A couple of weeks ago when my husband began talking of us actually moving... in 12-18mos time frame... my heart stopped. It wanted to skip a beat and dance, but the reality is, that seemed too soon! Funny how we think we know what we want and at the same time surprise ourselves. Resisting the moon, when already here, is wasted energy. Looking to the stars, one can forget where we are.
Wendy, I agree. I called it Dr. Seuss land because the plants were right out of his books. YOU have done an amazing job looking at the beauty, even if it is the smallest flower growing on the largest cactus. The stars are amazing and your world is filled with beautiful things because you are there helping to make them grow!
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