Lord, y'all. You wrote the nicest things about me on that post I did about onions. Mostly I wrote it because I was feeling that my life, in the end, would add up to little more than one small task after another done over and over and to what effect?
Not a self-pitying thing, just a...what does it all mean, Mr. Natural? thing.
Those of you who do not know who Mr. Natural was, or is, well, he was a creation by the incredibly talented R. Crumb. Don't know who R. Crumb is?
Sad for you.
I think perhaps Mr. Natural's time has come again if you want to know the truth.
So anyway, Mr. Natural was like this guru-dude who people pestered constantly for the meaning of life.
And Mr. Natural, because he was enlightened or perhaps because he was merely pissed off all the time would always reply as stated below:
I have posted this picture before. I may well post it again some day. It sort of sums it all up for me.
Don't mean sheeit.
So yeah, I was folding a towel you know, and that obit thing came to me. Of course, I have done more in my life than folding towels and peeling and slicing onions but when it comes right down to it, I, like you, most likely, have spent the bulk of my life doing one small task which shall need to be repeated almost immediately after another.
Perhaps instead of a Turtle Motherist, I am a Mr. Naturalist.
Maybe I am both. Perhaps I am merely a Possiblianismist.
See? I don't know. I don't know sheeit.
In the meantime, one thing I do know is that there is a small hurricane which may, as I write this, have been downgraded to a tropical storm, dancing around the Yucatan in the general area of Cozumel. In the news letter I get from the delightful Laura, she states that the island has been making preparations since Monday and all is in readiness. Things have been trimmed and secured, the elders have been provided for, shelters are stocked. Etc. The mood is one of patience and determination.
Not contrast that with what happens here in the good old USA when a hurricane threatens. First, the weather people scare us to fucking death with footage of them standing on a beach where the waves are pounding and the wind is whipping. They are risking their lives to bring us the proof via film of Nature's Devastating Power.
Then they show us the local Home Depot where people are pleading and crying for boards, tape, batteries and generators. Also, there is usually footage of angry people at gas stations and at grocery stores, trying to get their fair share of gasoline and canned peaches.
Or whatever.
But it's always PANIC! It's always ARMAGEDDON! It's always HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN?
And in Cozumel, a tiny island where when a hurricane hits, no one can go anywhere and so they calmly and rationally make their preparations and accept that it is all part of life on an island in the Caribbean.
I remember once when Mr. Moon and I had a trip planned to Cozumel and they had a hurricane before we got there and this was in the pre-internet days and finally, to get information about whether or not there was even electricity on the island, I CALLED, on PHONE to the Cozumel Tourist Department and a woman answered and when I got through with my semi-hysterical questions she calmly said, "We are ready for you."
Uh. Okay.
And they were.
One of the best trips we ever had because everyone had been scared off and we just about had the island to ourselves in terms of tourists. Not good for Cozumel, but good for us.
Where am I going with this?
Nowhere. I have to do laundry. And make the bed. And sweep the floors and take a walk and get ready for Owen and figure out what to cook for supper because Lily will be eating with us and, and, and...
All that stuff, you know. That little bitty stuff which adds up to a day which adds up to a lot of days and then...
You die.
What's it all mean, Mr. Natural? I ask as I take out the compost.
Don't mean shit.
Okay. That's okay.
And in two months I'll be in Cozumel and I will NOT be folding towels or peeling onions and someone else will be doing that for me and I will feel somewhat guilty but hell, I feel guilty all the time anyway and in Cozumel I'll be feeling guilty with the Caribbean lapping at my feet. And you can add to my obit that I loved the small island of Cozumel, Mexico, and that I had some of my best moments there when I wasn't doing the small tasks of life but someone else was and because that is what my life is mostly made up of- those small tasks- I will be more than appreciative, I will be gloriously grateful, and right now I am hoping that this storm leaves the island and all of its inhabitants unharmed and I feel certain that it will because in Cozumel, people know that it may mean shit or it may not mean shit but that hurricanes do happen and you better get those beans boiling and make sure you have plenty of gas for the stove and water to drink.
Because we are human and we need to drink water and we need to have food to eat and that, my friends, is that.
And we can accept that and we can even make a sort of art of it or we can despair and we can panic and question the meaning of it all.
Up to us.
I guess.
Haul water, chop wood, build cathedrals.
Collect eggs, feed chickens, write poems.
Fold the towels, peel the onions, play Beethoven.
Clean up the poopy butts of babies. Wash the diapers.
KISS THE BABIES!
Okay. I'm done. I have no idea what I'm talking about and guess what?
Doesn't matter.
It's a beautiful day, I have tasks to do, and Cozumel is going to be ready for me.
Love you, love R. Crumb, love Mr. Natural.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen Crumb? The documentary? One of the best docs ever...even if it weren't about R. Crumb I would still gobble it up.
Good for you for not letting the frenzied ones beat your heart down.
I dig Mr. Natural. Thanks for introducing me to his practical and sage ass.
ReplyDeleteI love you! You already know that though.
This is a great post. I kind of recognize the Mr. Natural guy. He sort of reminds me of the "Keep on Truckin" guy... you know the Dead guy making the BIG strides?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, none of us knows shit, but we sure like to think we do. That's why I like animals better in general. They just do what they do and take life as it comes.
Cozumel is waiting!
xo
silverfinofhope- I have no seen that but I sure need to.
ReplyDeleteMs. Bastard-Beloved- Mr. Natural may be our patron saint. Heh-hey. Love you too!
Ms. Fleur- That IS the guy. Same one. Good old Mr. Natural who keeps on truckin'.
You will love it, Ms. Moon. He's just as pervy and removed as you'd expect him to be.
ReplyDeleteI knew Mr. Natural looked familiar, I remember the keep on truckin dude.
ReplyDeleteAnother great post, as always.
I hope Cozumel is ready for you always.
What is it with the guilt? I would love to lay it down and just be for a while, see how that feels.
Oh well, questions for another day.
My chopped onion is simmering in the soup, and at least I don' have to feel guilty about dinner. Hope you don't either.
xo
Enjoy the beautiful day, and thank you for introducing me to Mr. Natural. He is definitely my kind of guy. And we all have done the same small tasks over and over again, but we do them with love and that love keeps us moving forward to the next small task. Have a good one.
ReplyDeletemr. natural also told us to keep on truckin'
ReplyDeleteand that's just what i plan to do.
xxalainaxx
Mel- Nope. I do not feel guilty about dinner. We had a fine one. I, too, wonder where the hell I collected my store of it, not even having been raised Catholic.
ReplyDeleteMr. Shife- Exactly right. And with love, it becomes a sort of art form.
Mrs. A- Good. It is never easy but we somehow manage to keep on.
I thought about you when I heard about the hurricane heading for Cozumel. I hope that it won't be a bad one if it hits.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know R Crumb was the creator of Mr Natural -- my kind of philosophy!
ReplyDeleteThank you... Bless you...
ReplyDeleteLove to have a parrot open a Corona while on the beach...
Anonymous- Thank-you. Thank-you for reading this and taking the time to comment.
ReplyDelete