Gentle Rhythms
July 19, 2025
“You never know the value of a moment until it gets taken away from you.” —Dr. Seuss
This July weekend in the middle of Summer has arrived. Outside the lawnmower is making its way around the large grass field behind our houses. There is no highway noise drone, but instead, the rumbling and whirring of the dishwasher, tidying up the last few days of dishes and pots and pans. The sky is gray, clouds muting the sounds of life that is going on beneath them. A big gray and black striped and spotted tiger cat is nestled up beside me, his whiskers flicking on occasion. The warmth of his sweet body is warming me.
This past week has been one when I’ve been able to get a lot of tasks and chores taken care of. The plants are planted and have been given fresh compost to urge them to grow strong. The bark is spread, the Winter Creeper is planted in rich soil and the big concrete blocks are in place to provide me with steps to tend my planters. Beds have been weeded, though fresh new sprouts of dandelions remind me, there will be more despite my attempts to be weed-free. I actually love dandelions, but they can become way too much for me to control. And there may be too many for anyone’s enjoyment. Such is the reality of life.
Ray Bradbury’s book, Dandelion Wine, was first written as a series of short stories, reminiscing over his family’s summers and some of their activities. One of the highlights of the summer was making some myself. This year, the goal was to leave the dandelions as long as possible through the season when the bees are busy gathering pollen to feed their young. Last evening as I wandered around the yard checking the planter boxes, pulling a weed or dead leaf or two from fading plants, I noticed the bees enjoying the lavender, yarrow, rosemary, and multiple other pollen-laden plants. I no longer buy or plant annuals in the yard as I’m devoted to helping the pollinators. I’m also devoted to holding onto traditions in the family and among friends that encourage connection and enjoyment of life’s simple pleasures. Though as our lives change, the traditions change too.
“When never know the worth of water until the well is dry.” —Thomas Fuller.
When we lose family members, we often lose traditions connected with them. So what do we do; we create new traditions. What are some of the summer traditions you did that you no longer do? What are some of your new traditions? I think it’s important to ask ourselves these questions on occasion, as it helps us connect more closely to who we were, who we are now, and who we are becoming. For what happens to one of us, is going on with everyone else too. Life’s constant truth is life is constantly changing, as are we. How we do it determines in part how we and the world become the reality we know. Often we take things for granted when we fail to reflect on what our lives are composed of.
Things we take for granted. Having a place to live where we can safely sleep, get out of the cold or extreme heat, or find shelter from the storms of life. Being able to grow food and herbs. I have basel growing in pots on my kitchen window sill. I have oregano, cilantro, parsley, and peppers growing in my yard. On my back porch are planters with colorful flowers in white tin planters, and in a large rusted black cauldron, I have a small maple tree, leaves of yellow, gold, and orange showing signs of autumn already. A few days ago I first heard and then saw a large flock of Canada geese flying from the east and turning towards the estuary on the Columbia River…no doubt in search of a resting place for the night. What have you noticed today, yesterday, or this week? What do you think you’ve been taking for granted?
We take life for granted, and yet how often do we spend time avoiding enjoying the simple pleasures that surround us. How often do we slow down enough to enjoy watching an ant carry a heavy cake crumb across the counter, or wonder at the ingenuity of the tiny spider family who live behind the car’s rearview mirror. Taking time to pay attention to so much of what we take for granted, is probably one of the most important things we can be doing right now. Or for that matter, any day. Noticing the beauty and intricacy of the life cycle and our place in it, could not be a more important part of life. Without the understanding of how precious our lives are, and how fragile and tender each moment is, we fail to appreciate this wondrous life. And we put ourselves in danger of losing what we take for granted in all areas of our lives.
The freedom to wake up each morning in relatively good health. The joy of traveling to see our family, or meeting them at the airport when they come to visit. The wide variety of fresh produce we find at our markets and farmer’s produce stands. The water flowing out of the tap as we take our baths or showers, and the appliances humming reminding us that electricity is available to keep our food safe. The liberty to join a local demonstration to demand we keep our civil rights and freedom. The freedom to say or write our opinions, even if they are in contradiction to the status quo. The freedom to wear what we choose, and the right to vote in each election, local, regional, statewide, or federal. Access to education and daycare for our children so we can work and learn, and grow as individuals as we help build a stronger country. Libraries, bookstores, newspapers, and e-journalism (blogs, news sites, lectures, workshops, courses.) where knowledge is encouraged and readily available. Remember when we couldn’t just ‘google it’ to find out how to do something like fix a leaky pipe or install a new thermostat?
Take a look at what has become normal in the span of one lifetime. Your lifetime (try this some time at each stage of your life). The ability to communicate with just about anyone anywhere, and if you take that for granted, remember, that access is a relatively new condition. Whatever age you are at this point, think back to how one thing, like communication, may have already changed in your lifetime. I often think about the different tools I’ve used to write with. A crayon, a pencil, a pen, a manual typewriter, an electronic typewriter, a computer keyboard (and a variety of computer languages to master from COBOL to IOS to an Intel processor, to my phone’s keyboard and voice dictation method. The precursor to voice dictation was Dragon Dictate.
Or think about how we’ve learned to calculate math problems and calculate. How we learned to calculate and count: on fingers, using pennies, dimes, nickels, and quarters, using my brain and paper and a pencil, working out formulas drawn out on chalkboards, using hand-held calculators, by complex computation on computers,or simply asking Alexis or Siri to do my math problems. The range of things in our lives that we take for granted, have all been altered, changed, replaced, or lost during the lifespan of most people by the end of their lives.
Communication is another part of life we may take for granted. Remember letters that took a week or more to arrive, and another to answer? Or expensive long distance calls made after 8 or 9 at night? We have so many ways of communicating. Sending texts and emails is now akin to letter writing for some of us. How often do we think about these little parts of our lives? And how often do we consider just how fragile what we take for granted is? When we live in fear of losing ways to live, eat, find safety, communicate with those we love, or get information we need to survive and thrive, we know that we have to act like it. While we cannot spend 24/7 fighting for our rights, we have to do what we can to preserve and strengthen rights for all of us.
to our lives and to our country and the world, we have the obligation, as citizens and members of whatever society we live in, to stay informed, active, and concerned enough to take steps to guard our freedom, fight for our rights and for those of all people. We cannot afford to fall asleep to the dangers and jeopardy others have called down on humanity. As citizens and members of the communities we live in, and of the country where we are, we each need to find ways to act to help others, to protect the rights of all of us, and to let our voices and opinions be heard. When we live out of fear, we give energy to what it is we fear. Pull your spirit out of fights you cannot win, and put that energy into what you can have an impact on.
How do we do that? Well, look at your life. What acts have you performed to help lift others? Support local food banks and farmers. Shop where the owners do not give their resources and approval to our oppressors. Write, call, and talk with our representatives (local, state, regional, federal) letting them know what we think and what we support. Speak the truth even when it’s not taken well. The more we state the truth of how God created us all equal, or how we have been “endowed with certain unalienable rights” rights worth fighting for as many have already done, suffered and died for, the more we reinforce that truth. In the Preamble to the Constitution, it declares that we have the right (and I say obligation) to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. So let’s get on with that now. Look around you and take stock of what you have to be grateful for, what you are still able to do and be and wish for yourself and those you love. And take a deep breath, dig into the next pile of things to do, and live your best life.
As this slow midsummer day goes on, I remember how fortunate we still are, and hope we figure out what we each need to do to safeguard our lives, our rights, our freedom, and our liberty to live for another summer, next year, when we hopefully don’t live in regret for what we’ve lost to tyranny in such a short time. Remember we live as testaments to the generations of our families who’ve tried to build up and not tear down. We live as witnesses to those we know who have returned their backs on doing unto others as we would have them do unto us.
Claim your place on the planet, and nurture, tend to, and take good care of what matters most to preserve a life and what makes life worth living for you. Using our support, concern, and resources to help others is part of how we live out our part in the creative process. We are part of the Divine process of creating a more perfect union, and certainly of creating more perfect lives for ourselves and our fellow human beings. We are interdependent with the Earth and all her elements, and we are part of the divine plan to keep life in harmony despite everything that sets it off balance. Carry on, and keep on keeping on. Along with our freedoms come our obligations. And appreciating, supporting, and living our lives according to what builds us all up, is our obligation.