This morning I went to the market with son Hugh, 19. He is going away for the weekend, with his girlfriend, so he thought he would come to the market with me and get some great stuff to eat and cook. I know he loves cooking and he will only eat the best he (or his mother!) can afford. We had a wonderful time tasting cheeses, choosing feral meat and even had a chat to Tony Scarfo at Wilsons. I was aware that the morning was moving on rapidly and I thought he would be keen to get going. We were just walking down one of the aisles of stalls when I said as much to him and that he should go whenever he was ready - I could finish my part of the expedition alone. He had already sent an SMS to the girlfriend once to say he would be late. He stopped in the middle of the crowded walkway, turned around and said "Its all about the journey, Mum." Spreading his arms out to embrace the stalls piled high with vegetables and olive oils and coffee beans and the crowds of people with their bags and trolleys, he continued "This is at the core of me. This is what I love." Evidently the girlfriend could wait even longer because it was another hour before he left.
I will never forget it and probably think of it every time I walk down that aisle, every Friday. Now it is a tear-jerking memory. Then, it was the culmination of 19 years of instilling in this lad everything that I feel and believe in. So, when your teenagers are revolting and insensitive and loud and you want to murder them, just remember that one day they will come good and all of a sudden it will seem like those times never happened!
And he is right; after all is said and done, life is a journey. I was thinking about this journey early this evening when I was packing up my gardening things. The cool breeze was rustling in the bottlebrushes, the magpies and crows were having a discussion about something in the distance and the softer light of autumn was washing over the gum trees and casting long shadows down the valley. The chilly air of the evening was invigorating and I glanced across at all the new season's plantings in the vegetable garden and thought that my journey has brought me to a space that I never thought I would find. I can see misty paths leading here and there into the future and, at last, I seem to be ready to choose which ones to follow.
This blog continues to follow our journeys in the search for peace and passion in the gardens of life.
I will never forget it and probably think of it every time I walk down that aisle, every Friday. Now it is a tear-jerking memory. Then, it was the culmination of 19 years of instilling in this lad everything that I feel and believe in. So, when your teenagers are revolting and insensitive and loud and you want to murder them, just remember that one day they will come good and all of a sudden it will seem like those times never happened!
And he is right; after all is said and done, life is a journey. I was thinking about this journey early this evening when I was packing up my gardening things. The cool breeze was rustling in the bottlebrushes, the magpies and crows were having a discussion about something in the distance and the softer light of autumn was washing over the gum trees and casting long shadows down the valley. The chilly air of the evening was invigorating and I glanced across at all the new season's plantings in the vegetable garden and thought that my journey has brought me to a space that I never thought I would find. I can see misty paths leading here and there into the future and, at last, I seem to be ready to choose which ones to follow.
This blog continues to follow our journeys in the search for peace and passion in the gardens of life.
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1 comment:
Thanks for sharing this. I've just watched the movie "The Bucket List" last night and had thoughts about life's journey as well. Here's to peace and passion in this garden of life!
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