Spoonful of Sugah

With Labor Day here, I’m quietly reflective as I am every year.  Thank you Grover Cleveland for this extra day to honor another summer’s farewell while getting together with friends and family.  I’m reminded of a really fantastic Summer of 2007.  The coolest thing about it is we enjoyed it right here in New England with so much to do that we were left feeling we needed a vacation from our vacation. 

The above pic is a shot I got while taking a ferry from Boston Harbor over to Spectacle Island, one of the many Harbor Islands located just beyond the Harbor.  It was really cool to be surrounded by beautiful sailboats while having planes fly directly overhead.  We got to witness a Native American gathering with the Nipmuc people and I was reminded, once again, of just how blessed I am to live in such a sacred part of this FREE and beautiful country. 

I think for many of us New Englanders, we take for granted just how fortunate we are each day as we tread upon this land, taking part in the daily grind, rushing blindly to our destinations.  As many of us commute down 93 across the bridge into Boston, we are so focused on getting to work on time, that we don’t often have time to remember that we are able to FREELY work and thrive and exist because of that small group of people who stood up for what they believed in back a few hundred years ago, on this very same land.  Since that time, there have also been many others who have fought that similar fight and we NEED to remember them and honor them each day as we go about our business.  How very blessed are we to be living a life where many of us complain that the grocery line is too long, our internet connections are just not running fast enough, and our summers are much too short?  Is this REALLY ALL we have to complain about? 

This very moment many of our friends, families, and loved ones are busy dedicating and sacrificing their lives to honor this freedom that we take so much for granted.  They have given up these lazy days of summer and are living in foreign countries, eating food for nourishment instead of gluttonous pleasure, sweating in the hot sun in heavy uniforms and tightly laced boots.  They are fighting for all of our lives every single day, as well as their own.  Have we taken the time EVERY SINGLE DAY to honor and remember them, to let them know what they’re doing is worthwhile, to just take one minute, ONE MINUTE of our so called busy day and say a small prayer for them? 

Where did you put your flag?  Did that yellow ribbon on your car make too much of a political statement for you, so you threw it away? What happened to “We Remember” or “We’ll Never Forget”?  If we were to tally up all of the losses and say that it all happened on one day, would that help us to remember?  Where is our collective memory?  We’ll remember to pick up our dry cleaning this week, but will we remember that many were lost this week so that we could keep that simple freedom?

There are certain people who burst their way into this world, like a shooting star, which never dims, weakens or fades.  From the time they are born they are blessed with this ceaseless store of positive energy which only seems to brighten as the years fade to gray.  In our short time here on earth, we may know of one (maybe two if we’re really lucky) of these vibrant beings.  They may not be pretty, elegant, worldy (oh, definitely not!), or obliging.  Oh, but they sure are vibrant, non-conforming, unconventional, original, full of laughter and sometimes down right exhausting to be around. 

However, if we are lucky enough to cross paths with one of these “shooting stars”, our lives are turned upside down, spun around, and injected by a sense of joy which we never before knew existed.  We often leave their sides with a new sense of strength and realization that, “this is OUR life and we too can live it OUR OWN WAY!”

Now, you may be wondering what the picture above has anything to do with these supernovas I am talking about.  You may look at this picture of these feet and wonder why I would put such an “unpretty” picture on my blog.  You may smugly be thinking to yourself that you are blessed with earth’s most beautiful feet.  Please bear with me, I’m getting to the point here.

When we were born, one of the first things many of our parents did was count all of our fingers and all of our toes.  As children our parents often played, “This Little Piggy Went to the Market” (that lovely little foot tickling rhyme) while we squealed in delight at the “wee wee wee all the way home” ending.  As toddlers, being fit for our first pair of shoes was a wonderful milestone.  Our parents often bronzed them and put them on a shelf somewhere for all the world to admire.

As the years went on and we got older, we learned how to integrate these phrases into our daily use of language (as defined by Webster’s dictionary):

-at one’s feet : under one’s spell or influence
- foot in the door : the initial step toward a goal
- off one’s feet : in a sitting or lying position
- on foot : by walking or running on foot>
- on one’s feet:  in an established position or state

“Feet” clearly held an important place in society and in our every day worlds.  So now, here we are in the year 2007.  The media has defined that what is ”Pretty” (as defined by people that “know”) is acceptable and worthy.  Women spend millions of dollars primping and doting on their appearance and people who feel they don’t measure up spend their days feeling less than adequate.  In order for our feet to feel “pretty”, women must have a freshly pedicured look with the latest nail color.  If our feet aren’t presentable, we hide them in our shoes and try to cram an appointment to the nail salon into our already hectic schedules so that our social walls do not come crashing down.  (ok, I guess I’ll have to save the rest of this for another day)

So, back to the picture above.  These feet are defined by me as beautiful, joyous, well-lived, and honored.  They have walked this earth with a pep in their step for more than 3/4 of a century and they have stories (as well as a few off color jokes) to tell that would knock the socks off your very own blessed feet.  They are unashamed, real, true, and worthy as they house the body of one of the world’s true “Shooting Stars”. 

More Beautiful Joyous feet (kitty feet too!)

Oh….. Hail to Joyous Feet!