Disputation on the sudden appearance of sunlight

October 16th, 2008


Because we are longing for the slightest glimmer of change on the horizon, and because it can be seen.

Day before yesterday I was pulling weeds or raking leaves or some such that comprises my morning rounds on this ranch and I heard the buzz of chainsaws, then the crack of a branch and breathed a gust of dust that came over the back fence.

The property to the rear is derelict and has been for decades, overgrown with monstrous trees and thickets, a forgotten ramble and a pit, with ragged shacks and sheds and a wildlife population so vile that we could only smile and call it Raccoon Lodge. I’d noticed on my strolls when the lot had gone on the market, the near eternity that it had been sale-pending and knew with the noise that the closing date had been crossed.

The routine rumble we’ve always heard on our street has been quiet of late, a deafening lull, as the upgrades and add-ons and even tree trims wait for the return of good days and easy money. It might be awhile coming. It might be a good, bad, sad, tight, taut, crying out loud long time ’til those days are here again. With everything and all getting worse and no way to tell, I don’t mind too much that something blasphemously new and huge is probably about to go up adjacent to me.

I don’t mind anymore. Because about four o’clock yesterday afternoon, after the crew had quit, and the work was done, and I walked into my kitchen, and I looked out the window toward the western sky, I saw the wide open sky, through my own leafy cover, the dreamy blue and the streaming sun, the light that had been eclipsed for so long by the tangle of rotten trees and vines, by the dark of gloom, by an unkempt past. I saw the sun, I saw the future, and I saw the incalculable density of dog hair, glistening gold each and every strand, hair that blankets my floors, heretofore unseen, and I knew the truth with a certainty that I must speak and console you with here.

It’s going to be okay. We’re going to be fine. The light has arrived.

That, and a merciful vacuum cleaner.

13 Comments »

  1. thanks-
    the light is especially profound to me these days.
    and to a lesser degree, dog hair

    Comment by Bridge — October 16, 2008 @ 3:28 am

  2. Hallelujah.

    I’ve got some detritus of my own to clean up after the light of the clearing.

    (in my head, I’m singing the Beatles, Here Comes the Sun.)

    Comment by Rowena — October 16, 2008 @ 3:35 am

  3. I love to see pet hair on the clothes of the children and school. It speaks of a happy animal somewhere that, knowing the child, has a good home, and a comfy chair somewhere, or at the least, a child that plays with it somewhere.On another note, being renters, we were suprised to be told one day that the carport had been built to illegal specifications by our landlord. The local council ordered she remove the sides of it.The sun then streamed in, which was beautiful – but then so did the scratchy dead leaves- endlessly! Oh well- there’s the ying and yang of the situation, one in which many gained employment – the council legal team, the cutters, and the broom factory!

    Comment by Pam — October 16, 2008 @ 9:20 am

  4. Needed this.

    Comment by Mama Zen — October 16, 2008 @ 12:12 pm

  5. An uplifting post. Thank you.

    Comment by Kristin H. — October 16, 2008 @ 12:23 pm

  6. Beautifully written post as always. Cat

    Comment by Cat — October 16, 2008 @ 2:46 pm

  7. Yahoo. It’s all about the light today.

    Comment by Jena Strong — October 16, 2008 @ 4:43 pm

  8. All one needs is a good dog, a good vacuum and little sunshine. :o)

    Comment by Shalet — October 16, 2008 @ 6:46 pm

  9. I know what you mean.

    Comment by denise — October 17, 2008 @ 2:50 am

  10. Yes, let there be light.
    Let there be hope.
    All shall be well.
    All is already well, dog hair and all.

    Comment by GailNHB — October 17, 2008 @ 4:27 pm

  11. Wash, rinse, repeat…

    Comment by lu — October 19, 2008 @ 1:34 pm

  12. You write so beautifully and I love the metaphor.

    Recently we had a big, beautiful tree cut down in our backyard. It was so sad, but it was so close to our house, looming over our son’s bedroom, and it was right in the middle of our deck. As much as I hate killing trees, I have to admit that my garden will be much happier with more light, and I’m enjoying the unblocked view.

    Comment by Shelli — October 20, 2008 @ 8:12 pm

  13. I believe in both light and dog hair; the abundance of both can only mean life, comfort, and warmth.

    Comment by Lisa — October 21, 2008 @ 12:49 pm

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