Ephemeral world
I was lighting the candle for my mom this morning when I looked outside and saw that the crepe myrtles are leafing up. Foolish trees, don’t they know it’s fall? Meanwhile, back at the ranch, last night friends came over and we talked seriously about New Orleans and our attachment to this place.
But my friend asks, “Could I be evacuating all the time when I’m 70 years old?”
New Orleans has almost become a metaphor for the brave new world, it was destroyed, it resurrected, and now the threat of destruction hangs in the balance. And we its denizens are supposed to go about our normal life with this as a our backdrop. But what’s interesting is most people live in New Orleans because they have roots that go deep there, but now this generation is getting used to the idea of a rootless New Orleans, one where a Category One hurricane blows through and knocks down the palms first because they have the most shallow roots, and then starts attacking the mighty oaks. And that’s just a #1.
The nature of all things is ephemeral. Can we get used to the fact that if you buy a DVD you are not sure there will be a DVD player in a year, or if we buy a phone that it won’t be obsolete in six months or everything you bought to go with it like the iPhone 5 where none of the accessories now work with the new phone, or how about a computer, will we be using computers or tablets, and will we need to even buy a camera at all? Take a house, if you build it carefully and make sure everything is just so, but then the elements start attacking it from day one, do you try to hold onto the house or get used to temporary shelters.
The nature of all relationships are in flux. A family member can tell a lie and start a domino effect that lasts years. A friend can take offense at a tease and never speak to you again. A husband can become a stranger overnight. What about love? What about friends? What about family?
What/who on earth could we possibly commit to?