I am just as confused as ever.
First, the local utility serving Welch informed me that it would cost me $6,600 to run electricity to my land and, further, that I am responsible for obtaining the rights-of-way from my neighbors whose properties are crossed by the line. The property on the immediate west of me is soon to be ready saw timber. In order to get an easement for my electrical line, I would have to “buy” that timber, a strip of land thirty feet wide and about 500 feet long. I have idea what the remaining few hundred feet of easement will cost since the guy who owns it is a survivalist and keeps busy stocking up for the approaching Armageddon. He would probably insist upon payment in gold coins since he does not recognize the sovereignty of the US Government or the paper script it backs as legal tender.
Second, my Dad received a call from some women in LaFayette (we pronounce it “la FET”) who inquired about how much I “was asking” for the Airstream. I didn’t know I was asking at all.
And third, I spent the last couple of weeks with friends in Texas and then Missouri/Kansas. I did not realize it but there is a pool among my buds on how long I will last in Welch. The consensus seems to be that I will relocate by Christmas.
Is the cosmos trying to tell me something? Am I just not listening?
Then, at the funeral for my friend Jim, it all became eerie. You may remember that I have this running commentary in my head about the Biblical injunction regarding the lilies of the field. It is a passage that has been at the core of my thinking for several years. In fact, I was mulling it over in light of the cost of the utilities, the marketability of the Airstream, and the office pool on my rural retreat during the opening hymn and Old Testament lesson and Psalm at Jim’s funeral. Those thoughts were tying themselves into knots when the priest read the Gospel passage Jim had selected. It was the lilies of the field. This is no accident. Now I am convinced that there is a pony somewhere under this pile of manure. I just have to keep digging to find it. Keep asking, keep wondering, keep seeking. Don’t settle for any life but root out the life. Be as completely yourself as possible, given the constraints of law and social custom. Just BE.
I have been thinking about the lilies, too - although there certainly are plenty of lessons in the Good Book about becoming overly attached to material things, I think the lilies point to something else. Trust, perhaps - a very difficult concept for us self-sufficient types.
ReplyDelete