So there I was, deep in the woods of Pine Arizona. Its dark, only the light of the moon and my handy-dandy flashlight to guide me thru the mountainous terrain; my quest was to find the water source. I have taken this trek many times before, however things were a little different. The path was overgrown from the spring rain and my land markers were no longer visible from the path… and it was 9 o’clock at night. So unprepared in my flip flops and shorts and little light I wonder into the night brush on a hunt for water.
I was out there for about 10minutes, had wondered into two different ditches, just about biffed it and was almost eaten alive by one monstrous spider when it occurred to me that there was another way. I remembered that there was a path by the road, it was not a short cut, but once I got up on the road and was able to look at the bank from a different angel I saw all the poison ivy I could have been wondering in and I noticed it was a little easier to see some land marks and look for the green lid in the dark and covered by green ivy (btw).
So I walked up and down the path right around the area I thought the switch was in and moving brush around… I found it! I slid down the bank and reached in to lift the spider covered lid, reached my hand into the pit, felt for the leaver and there it was. The water is now on. Success!
Trying to explain why it took me 20 min to do a 3 min job was to understand that even thou I’ve completed this task a few times before, it is always important to be prepared. Circumstances change, so even the seemingly “mundane” tasks in life we tackle, we should always be equipped for the assignments at hand, life can throw some unexpected events into our lives.
This little adventure reminded me of another lesion I learned from my friend, The Garden Lady.
One day we were walking in her garden and she was showing me all her plants and soil, we were talking about different seasons and seed and all this great garden stuff, when she handed me a knife and told me to go cut me some tomatoes. (Love tomatoes!) They were covered with bird netting, cause you got to protect fruit that is vulnerable to attack. And I gota say, man, were they the best tomato’s I’ve ever had! Then we came to her cucumber patch, it was big and growing over the pool fence. The Garden Lady said you can’t get to the cucumbers from this angel, ya see in life we are so “gun-ho” to get what we want that we approach things from the wrong angle, we miss the point and get frustrated and miss out on some good fruit in life. Sometimes you have to go at it from another direction. As she unlocked the pool gate and lead me to the other side of the cucumber plant she handed me the knife again and said here, it’s not a short cut, you’ll get a little scratched up, but you can reach them from here, the reward will be worth it.
Later that afternoon I had one of the best fresh salads in the world!
The lessons I learned are there;
1)Be prepared in and out of season for all occasions
2)Protect the “fresh fruit” in you life and allow it to grow
3)When life happens, look at all the angles and think about your approach.
And 4) When life gives you lemons, grab the vodka, a friend, two lawn chairs and enjoy the moment! (lol)
But seriously, in keeping with the theme of this blog, sharing stories about life, it is important to remember that third lesion; looking at all the angels and taking the best approach in dealing with… well, life.
Tell me friends, are you prepared and willing to take the time to respond to life rather then react? Do you have a story about some life lessons you had to learn the hard way?
I was out there for about 10minutes, had wondered into two different ditches, just about biffed it and was almost eaten alive by one monstrous spider when it occurred to me that there was another way. I remembered that there was a path by the road, it was not a short cut, but once I got up on the road and was able to look at the bank from a different angel I saw all the poison ivy I could have been wondering in and I noticed it was a little easier to see some land marks and look for the green lid in the dark and covered by green ivy (btw).
So I walked up and down the path right around the area I thought the switch was in and moving brush around… I found it! I slid down the bank and reached in to lift the spider covered lid, reached my hand into the pit, felt for the leaver and there it was. The water is now on. Success!
Trying to explain why it took me 20 min to do a 3 min job was to understand that even thou I’ve completed this task a few times before, it is always important to be prepared. Circumstances change, so even the seemingly “mundane” tasks in life we tackle, we should always be equipped for the assignments at hand, life can throw some unexpected events into our lives.
This little adventure reminded me of another lesion I learned from my friend, The Garden Lady.
One day we were walking in her garden and she was showing me all her plants and soil, we were talking about different seasons and seed and all this great garden stuff, when she handed me a knife and told me to go cut me some tomatoes. (Love tomatoes!) They were covered with bird netting, cause you got to protect fruit that is vulnerable to attack. And I gota say, man, were they the best tomato’s I’ve ever had! Then we came to her cucumber patch, it was big and growing over the pool fence. The Garden Lady said you can’t get to the cucumbers from this angel, ya see in life we are so “gun-ho” to get what we want that we approach things from the wrong angle, we miss the point and get frustrated and miss out on some good fruit in life. Sometimes you have to go at it from another direction. As she unlocked the pool gate and lead me to the other side of the cucumber plant she handed me the knife again and said here, it’s not a short cut, you’ll get a little scratched up, but you can reach them from here, the reward will be worth it.
Later that afternoon I had one of the best fresh salads in the world!
The lessons I learned are there;
1)Be prepared in and out of season for all occasions
2)Protect the “fresh fruit” in you life and allow it to grow
3)When life happens, look at all the angles and think about your approach.
And 4) When life gives you lemons, grab the vodka, a friend, two lawn chairs and enjoy the moment! (lol)
But seriously, in keeping with the theme of this blog, sharing stories about life, it is important to remember that third lesion; looking at all the angels and taking the best approach in dealing with… well, life.
Tell me friends, are you prepared and willing to take the time to respond to life rather then react? Do you have a story about some life lessons you had to learn the hard way?
