manlycornhusk's blog post - Life is like a box of chocolate....

oh wait..that's not right. Life is all about opposites or contradictions. That's what I wanted to say. The old saying is that opposites attract and it must be true. When they meet each other and create a new, single organism, they become whole and balanced.

I'm babbling because I spent the morning sitting next to the river enjoying the early morning call of what sounded like a 600lb Bullfrog. His friend across the water was only too happy to respond in like frenzy. It's been so dry lately and the river has dropped to reveal staggered islands of new grass.

Suddenly the life that was hidden below the water is close enough to the surface to be observed by a malingering, middle aged man with extra time on his hands. The grass along the banks shakes and moves and I think that a turtle is moving towards the shoreline. I was wrong. It was breakfast time for a hungry bass. It swam and hipped it's way among the stems in a way that made me wonder...can animals, like humans, be considered clumsy?

In flies a crane to stand sentry on one of the little islands and I think my little clumsy bass would do well to look for a quieter breakfast counter. Hundreds of swallows hurtle like little black jets, inches above the water, hoping to startle insects up from the almost mirror still surface. Here and there, a fish jumps or a yellow canary finch flits down to see what treasures are forgotten among the rocks and plants of the riverway. It's peaceful...even with two Bullfrogs doing the anvil chorus just yards away.

Up above...far above, black shapes with outstreached wings circle me in increasing numbers. Around here, it could be anything. Hawks, Golden Eagles...no, it's a family of Redheaded Turkey Buzzards. Their lazy arcs trace the air and then they settle into the trees to wait for the next warm updrafts to start their dance again. Where has the time gone...I need to get motivated. Back to the concrete, glass and steel that is our obvious world nowadays. Back into that gasoline devouring, fume belching steel bastard that helped us to forget how to walk and talk and live in the real world. Damn....

Oh, you're wondering what this had to do with opposites, right. Well, the river was low, the bank dusty, the frogs loud, the morning warm, the buzzards ugly and the fish, clumsy...what a messed up world, right. But it wasn't...it was perfect and a treat to the eyes, ears, nose, fingers and mostly, my heart. You see, turkey buzzards may be one of the ugliest birds you could ever "not" want to meet but they are the gold medal winners of graceful flight. Ugly on land, Beautiful in the air.

So..I won't sweat my ugly part and I won't pet my pretty parts and I'll just assume that I'm balanced enough not to be shoving the grass out of my way at the breakfast table, wink, wink.

Peace and Love and a Big ole Bear Hug