!  The world abounds with creative thinking these days that often is defined as outside the box. It has to do with the capacity of Homo sapiens inclination, unlike any other learning species, for abstract thinking. I am in my imagination, holding the reins of a quartet of horses that are pulling me remorselessly along despite my heels dug into the dirt road, leaning backwards trying to hold them back with all my might. What newness does or at least what is perceived as newness, the creations outside the box, at least appeals to the horses, My point would be, "Hold your horses",  before we throw out whatever is in the box. Don't get me wrong. Thinking beyond the box can still be only a stones throw from the box.
   At 84 years I am composed largely of memories and blessed with them still, before they may ultimately flee. An old man sitting amongst his boxes and packaging and poking through them for thoughts to renew or remake, an old image for a new thought. It has become harder and harder not to become boring and I assume in some ways this subject or analysis is probably boring for those who value thinking outside the box because they may not have many boxes to poke into. I can't help that. I know that I am at least innocuous so leave me alone to pursue my unpacking  to look for stuff to write about!

Two years ago I was booked urgently for stents because of intractable angina. I couldn't even straighten the sheets on my bed without chest pain. The day of the surgery I was booked as a late add-on and the pianist stopped at McDonalds on the way to the hospital. I was sitting in the car waiting for her to bring us coffee as it was early and I could drink it well before my procedure which was still iffy as I  faced the fact that I could be bumped. I hadn't noticed that my friend Dion, a guitarist and singer and church friend was parked next to us and getting out of the car with his instrument. He had no idea where I was going and what I was facing but I guess he thought I might have looked morose or reflective and needed a lift. Standing in the parking lot he opened my door and started with You are My Sunshine and then to top it off Micheal Row the boat Ashore. What a good break for me to hear that and feel that, out of the blue, on the way to the hospital, by way of McDonalds. A lesson in how to never waste the opportunity to give out a little love to someone when you recognize the urging you have received by the spirit within. Micheal rowing across the Jordan is a black spiritual song reminiscent of the allegorical paradise  when arriving at the shore of the promised land. I'm not sure Dion figured out all the theology he engaged, but that gets figured out for us when we listen carefully and he sure did that day when I thought the odd chance was I would get to the other side.

It's May the 21st and the rough places on Lotus Island abound with the glory of the plants of Mother Nature that have spread their bloom for all to see. This early summer and the heat have brought out the best of these tough plants that survive and thrive, seeding themselves, demanding little that their tender cousins require from us all. And they grow best in the rough places where they fill the area with color and fill the heart with awe. The Hawthorns, white and pink and red fill the high hedgerows as we drive along, in full bloom today, a stupendous amount of bloom and creating an abundance of haws that will self seed in the rough area. The Spanish Broom, vividly yellow, not limpidly yellow, abounds on the banks in the rough of the roadways and high places bordering the rough valleys, crowding together, a panorama of yellow. The Rosa vulgaris filling the low hedgerows in the rough places and against the rough fences,spectacular punctate pink as we travel the roads, always providing the simple sided of Nature's rose and not ever needy as its cousins. And the California Poppies littering the low banks grey and orange as they provide a splash of color against the green of the grass background they join. What a pleasure and it's free;  no chore watering, planting, fertilizing, pruning,layering,tying up. Mother Nature does it all for us and she chooses the rough spots. It's a gift.  Tough plants for tough spots that belong. And we can look forward if we are patient for the Himalayan Blackberries in the rough spots in the fall to join these May the 21st plants blooming that Nature has freely provided.