Attitudes of Gratitude . . . . .
I had been asked to make potato salad for guests because they think it special and I was delighted to do so. When I finished I thought I should have kept the times to show long it took when I was at home and said I was tired at the end of a day caring for family, home and property. I was asked what was I doing all day since I didn’t have to work?
I gave thought to love of family, for beauty I created in the home, yard and learning to do. Not just what I did with my hands but with my heart.
It took 3 ½ hours from start to finish today when I made the potato salad. No small act in time but its value was what went into it because of caring. The celery chopped thin, green pepper, angular and red pepper to add color; cucumbers angled to be crisp , eggs cooked perfectly made the difference. Particular mayonnaise balanced with sour cream made it special.
Once yard work meant I knew plants and their needs, maximized color, plus caregiving meant I studied facets of connection between us and nature. Watering was measured with empty tuna cans placed precisely. Once a week spraying with mouthwash kept bugs off the landscaping and a can of beer in the sprayer fed the lawn also. Time doing and learning? A lot. Worth it? You bet.
My presence was an added value when David came home for chemo treatment. I sat beside the bed when he had difficulty sleeping doing what I do in thought. I was not cognizant of his awareness until he thanked me for sitting. He told me that he was able to let his grip on himself relax and sleep was his relief for the guard on himself.
Important? How often everyone’s need to have a someone sit by us?
When I met my friend to go walking to relieve her tension, I said let’s put away the toys because it looks like rain. Only toys she said but you and your husband worked to buy them and you respect your work? Never thought of it that way she said. I said the lesson then is the work means nothing and there is no respect for it.
Most people do not think of children as a sacred trust with lessons carefully taught. Most think children are clones of them and a biological thrust of insignificance.
Carrying things too far am I? But this casual attitude permeates every aspect of our lives. Do I ask one more thing to do with a list of too many already?
When I saw a credit card tossed on the counter with disdain for the checkout person I wanted to slap that hand who did it and apologize to the cashier. The attitude said to me I am bigger than this small purchase or it’s only dirty money. I wanted to ask if he had so little respect for his work that gave him credit to buy or the cashier not worth simple courtesy? I was ashamed of what I saw.
Ain’t nothin’ much? But it is a whole lot of much this casual attitude. With Covid 19 I worry a lot about attitudes. I do not relate to souls bartering for rights to sit on the beach or go to the malls in droves. You have a value you have not discovered. Please, take precautions, wear your mask.
Because I want Others to value you, I wear my face mask, to keep our planet afloat until they do. We are in precarious waters.
photo by John S. Hallissey