New Streams of Life (12)
New Streams of Life (12)
It is another fine day today. In such a nice weather condition my friend and I did as planed—building the base for the garage extension. Measuring the depth, moving the sand with a wheelbarrow from outside on the grass to the garden, getting spirit level, tape measure, and bags of cement out from the garage, and setting up the cement mixer were all easy bits. The tough and physically stressful ones were getting barrels of gravels, sand, and cement in the cement mixer according to the right ratio, and then pouring the mixer into the ready-made ditches. I
was knackered by the time we finished it.
But in general the base was satisfactorily done, and the weather seems promising
in the rest of the week, which will allow plenty of time for the cement to go dry and tough in the ground. At noon time I went into the kitchen to make muffins
toast for lunch, and sliced some bread crust for the chickens. They are lovely
creatures to be with. Whenever seeing you coming, they would scamper towards you
, expecting to enjoy something different and special. Their seemingly endless vitality and curiosity oftentimes make you feel you own the obligation to offer them something. But pleasingly they are all agreeable animals, things such as apple core, melon skin, and bread crust will be enough to suffice their needs.
The reason I mentioned these chickens is because today one of them isn’t well.
In the morning when I was in the garden playing with them, I found the sick one
was stooping down by the water barrel in the middle of the garden. Unlike others
running away upon seeing me empty-handed, it wouldn’t move. When I held it in
my hand, it was unbelievingly light. And all the while when my friend and I were
in the garden, it didn’t walk or move at all. It was a sad scene really, especially in such a fine spring afternoon.
Anyway life has to move on. In the famous works The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, the writer stated that each life is ultimately insignificant
and every decision ultimately does not matter, as what happened once might as well have never happed at all. In a way though I admit one has to accept the smallness of oneself in the course of the whole human life in order to evolve and progress, I don’t agree the lightness of life as stated by the writer. Every life
, be it human, animals, or even plants, has its own significance, and fullness if supported and allowed.
My friend said that these chickens had given him utmost joy, seeing them first grow up and then lay eggs. Even later on seeing them aging is not as bad as it sounds, when you know that they were enjoying themselves in the grassy garden and
the warm wooden chicken house. It was those chickens that added little moments
of joy to his family’s life. Maybe they are insignificant in this fast-forwarding world, but inside this house they are always complementary elements of family happiness and joy. So in this sense, I don’t think they are insignificant.
Earlier on my friend and I had a talk about our meeting with the business consultant yesterday. We exchanged our apprehension and worries about what still needs
to be done. I told him that I have been reading and learning and thinking about
our business prospects, and I know what the consultant meant when he said it is
going to be tough. It was no use to focus on things we couldn’t change such as
his parents’ reluctance of immersing into what we are doing. I just told him that he was not alone; I am and will be always beside him. Besides, things that look insignificant at an early point, once added up, will make a magnificent difference at a later point. That’s what’s called the transition process from ‘quantitative change’ to ‘qualitative change’, isn’t it? Once you have a balanced attitude and a persistent mind, nothing can’t be achieved in the end.
7th March,2007
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轻松英语