Saturday 18 September 2010

The Old Magnolia Tree

The old magnolia tree blew down last night as gale force winds struck my little town. It has been there from well before the house was built, an imposing presence on an unassuming section. This morning it lies prostrate, broken off at the roots, and just missing the corner of the house. How are the mighty fallen.

I slept through it. An early night in the hope of catching up on badly needed sleep meant I missed the power cut too. My neighbours weren't as relaxed at the time, they felt their house shake and rattle as they groped for the candles, and in the light of day it's clear their beautifully tended front garden will require a lot of work to bring it back to where it was. Another neighbour who dropped by to have a look at the tree observed sagely that the old magnolia was top heavy. He's probably right.

It's a metaphor for life I suppose. By this time next week it'll be gone, history. Who'd have thought it. A lesson in the impermanence of all things, but especially those things we just take for granted.

Now if I was a preacher-type, there'd be the makings of a sermon there. I think we should all be grateful that I'm not...

3 comments:

  1. Hey Gavin,

    Been a few months now since you've been mentioning the miserable "weather". Here's hoping the sun peeks through the clouds, sooner, rather than later!

    Aggie

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  2. global warming has arrived.
    up here in Canada, province of Saskatchewan, snow came on the 17th September.

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  3. "global warming has arrived."

    ....

    "snow came on the 17th September."

    Yanno, Saskanon, I don't think that phrase means what you think it means....Haven't had a proper winter in my neck of the woods for two years. Now that's global warming: Ah well, it's not "Apocalypse" (not by a long shot) but at least we rural-dwelling, former church members, will have lots of usable skills, once the world finally runs out of, or moves away from, using fossil fuels.

    Of course, that means we'll be "teaching in the Kingdom" without benefit of there being an Apocalypse/Armageddon first; and if you don't believe me, consider this: Only a couple hundred soldiers have died, in this latest world war. Granted, that's still too many (and the civilian casualties have been much, much higher, as the Americans continue on with their Muslim genocide), but it's also a far cry from the millions that died in WWI and WWII.

    Can't have an Apocalypse if you don't have a proper World War, after all. Global Warming notwithstanding.

    And don't even get me started on "The Beast Power" that ISN'T....Ratzi the Nazi's going to be burned in effigy by his "Great Whore of Babylon" church, one day soon. So much for his instating the "One World Religion" that's supposed to kick it all off, eh??

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