F

letting Sundays be Sundays.   As a child,  Sundays were set aside from the other days of the week.  Somehow they were slower.   There was church.  and then the waiting for the pot roast while my Dad listened to the ball game lying on the couch with the newspaper tent over his face.  My brother and i could do anything quiet.   I knew that other people did different things on Sundays than they did the other days of the week.  I knew that often,  Sundays were a day of visiting, too.  Tho my family were not visitors or visitees.  But i knew from watching the movies on the tv that Sundays were days like that.  Off and on,  i've tried to repeat this pattern and am finding myself there again, with Sundays devoted to this Place.  First Light to Last.  Quieter.   and here,  giving water.  cleaning Goat water tubs,  filling them.  Giving water all around.  Doing this SLOW and with attention.  Slow is the key.  Slow.  And today i made scalloped potatoes with ham for OCB.  In the midst of this,  Kelly came with her two boys.  She brought two dozen eggs and heartbreak.  She had called,  late last night,  tears,  and i said, come tomorrow and bring me eggs.  She did.  She's the age of my daughter.  Her mother died a couple years ago of suicide.  She Set Out,  finding herself in New Mexico.  she was born in Canada.  

the boys occupied themselves.  Thomas,  the autistic child,  wandered,  in and out of the house,  just looking.  Noah brushed Goats and sifted sand through a screen,  bring me the sifted sand saying….

feel this

Kelly told the story about how it's falling apart,  her and her man.  How she thinks she needs to Just Go to the land she owns south of here in San Marcial.  Take her kids,  her Goats,  her Chickens and just go.  She's not afraid to do that.  Not afraid to do that alone.  But she loves the man.  But…….

such an old story,  how many times repeated through the ages.  Men/Women   Confusion.

so i listened.  said some stuff,  but mostly listened.  And as i am learning more and more by all i take IN fro Out There,  it's the Listening that has Use and Goodness and Meaning.  Let her say it.  Over and over in all the ways it comes.  Let her say it until it falls into some kind of place for her that she can imagine a Way to Just Go.

Tay was very GLAD for this kind of Sunday.  She spun around the children and crept close,  licking their skin and looking so closely at them,  her nose so near whatever they were doing.   Thomas who has the Autism could be heard inside the house as Kelly and i were outside,  could be heard doing whatever it was,  inside the house,  making soft sounds.  he has very little speech,  mostly sounds.

IMG_2629f

one of the Native Plum,  planted last spring.  The one i was sure didn't make it.  Wrong

IMG_2627fg

maybe?

Posted in

20 responses to “to be of Use”

  1. Mo Crow Avatar

    a cloth enso

    Like

  2. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    Yes please…a circle…circle of love, circle of song, circle of many, a gathering circle, sacred circle, circle of life. A Sunday circle.
    And this song
    Ain’t Life a Brook
    https://youtu.be/ooGZDQYbUfY

    Like

  3. Tina Avatar
    Tina

    Circle of life….Sunday….last night I was witness to the peaceful passing of my 91 year old mother in law. All the conversation about OCB ……the experiences and thoughts shared by so many of you gave me courage to be present…really present ….it was a beautiful passing. Circle of life…yes!

    Like

  4. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    We women of age and experience, how it is when younger women come, to talk, to pour out thoughts, worries, their hearts. How easy it is for us to jump in with our stories, our advice, our cautions, our knowing, but the true knowing, the wise understanding comes not from our mouths but our ears…to listen, quietly, with attention, is what, to me, as it is to you grace, is the best of what we can offer from our life knowledge. For Kelly, it is the circle that wraps around her, the quiet space that allows her to tell, that allows her to gather herself for whatever lies ahead.
    Your new cloth of bits and pieces that circle; so much given with so little, the touching of cloth scraps, the touch of our hand on a shoulder. The space in the center for whatever needs to fill it, the quiet we give to listen to another. Love in its simplest but most wholeness.

    Like

  5. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Tina, you have given us a gift with this telling. To be present at the passing of a loved one is to strengthen the circle of life. You honor us with your words and heart. My condolences to you and your family.

    Like

  6. ² Avatar
    ²

    thank you Michelle
    ” enso”to express a moment when the mind is free
    to let the body create
    nice IS that

    Like

  7. Liz Avatar

    Thoughtful comments on a thoughtful post …
    And a new-to-me word: enso
    Thank you all …

    Like

  8. ² Avatar
    ²

    i follow the words of Marti
    Tina may your heart be blessed with warm light these days
    on fare- well of a boloved one
    greets to you

    Like

  9. patriciaspangler47@gmail.com Avatar

    i am glad that Kelly sought refuge in you. and yes, the listening always seems more important than doling out any thing else. what a safe space for her. and the circle. could not be more perfect.

    Like

  10. grace Avatar

    the circle began the day…just without Thought, the pieces seeming to
    know their places
    seemed presentient to the rest of the day, on over into Tina’s
    experience

    Like

  11. jude Avatar

    listening goes deep. this cloth reminds me of one made for Wendy and the kids, if i remember right.

    Like

  12. grace Avatar

    enso
    i’d forgotten some how….enso

    Like

  13. grace Avatar

    circle of life
    a Sunday circle

    Like

  14. grace Avatar

    this is such a gift, Tina…that you were Present….really
    Present….and that there was a thread that wandered over here
    to All of Us….a Gift back to us
    That Circle
    Thank you. Thank you so much and i send such love to your
    family as they come to find their way after this. Thank You.
    LOVE,

    Like

  15. grace Avatar

    yes. Like the one for Wendy’s children, but that one was a
    Going Through Cloth, split up the center.

    Like

  16. Wendy Watson Avatar

    To be of Use . . . yes, and I thnk to Listen is sometimes the most use.

    Like

  17. grace Avatar

    it is. and today, i learned that Again. Listen. ONLY and JUST THAT, LISTEN. until it is Done. Then….let there be some time of silence after, even. The Listening. Some silence. Then…….

    Like

  18. grace Avatar

    i liked it most because it is a safe place for her to
    listen to herself, telling her story

    Like

Leave a reply to Wendy Watson Cancel reply