summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”
Charles Dickens
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
On a recent Saturday in March my Lovely Bride and I, with two friends, visited the Landscape
Arboretum to get in a nice walk, to get some sun on our faces, and to see the sights.
I’ve heard the University of Minnesota described as “...one of the glories of our state...”.
In my opinion many portions of the UofM deserve to be lauded, none more so than the
Arboretum.
Nature’s colors that day seemed muted since March is a bit early in the growing season at our
latitude. The grounds at the Arb will explode with color in the coming weeks when plants come
to life, things green up, and the tulips bloom with a full rainbow of hues.
On that particular day the brightest colors to behold were worn by our fellow patrons out strolling
in their spring jackets while some of them still sported winter hats and sweaters.
At the end of our walk half of our party headed inside the main building to take care of some
business. The other two of us stayed outside to enjoy the beautiful sunshine.
A friendly gray haired lady on the patio slowly walked past us so we exchanged pleasantries
with her. Her husband followed closely behind. He had a fairly extensive camera setup with him
(by which I mean ANYTHING more involved than the smartphone camera that I carry).
I asked him whether he thought he got any good photos that day, or if I had maybe seen some
of his pictures on the arboretum website or in the emails they send to members so often.
I knew that my question sparked an interest with him because his eyes lit up.
Many have heard me tell of the lesson my dad taught me many years ago that if you talk to
people long enough you will invariably find some common ground.
Friends you both know,
a shared hometown,
or even common interests.
As I’ve traveled through life I’ve found this axiom of dad’s to be true more often than not.
That day at the Arb was just the most recent example.
As we spoke that day I found that the 80 year old photographer and I are we both nature loving
Arboretum members.
He’s a retired college professor from the University of Washington where our companions’
brother works.
him.
He’s a blogger and, by virtue of the fact that you’re reading this, you know that I am too.
My newest friend Professor John fished a business card, that gave his contact information and the web address for his blog, out of his wallet.
Are he and I the only ones giving business cards like that out anymore? We just might be.
While I’m sure far more unites us than divides us, it wasn’t until I got home, fired up my
computer, and checked out John’s blog, did I see some of the differences between us.
Many of the neuroscience professor’s blogposts are science-based and very informative
complete with many photographs he’s taken. My blogposts, in comparison, are more randomly
observational, I hope entertaining, and chock-full of stock photos culled from the internet.
I’m a lifelong Minnesotan. Professor John has lived in many different places.
And it’s a travel story from his blog that got me thinking...
I’ve told many of you the story of my father’s death, at age 80, on January 9th, 2012.
He drew his last breath at 12:25 am.
7 minutes later the moon went full in the central time zone.
Since that night I sense my dad’s presence and feel secure of his guidance every month when
the moon goes full. I feel as if he’s checking in with me.
I now savor those nights when the moon shines so bright that all things around me are clearly
illuminated despite it being nighttime.
It is good for my soul and my mental health.
My new friend Professor John may see nights like those quite differently however.
He was born in Czechoslovakia in 1939.
His family was very anti-Nazi going as far as serving in the resistance.
In 1941, at age 2, as Hitler rose to power, John and his family fled to America.
In 1946, when World War II ended, John and his family returned to their homeland.
Unfortunately in February of 1948 the Communists took over Czechoslovakia.
By April John’s father was arrested, imprisoned, and charged with anti-state activities.
If convicted of those charges John’s father would face the death penalty.
Fortunately by summer he was released from prison, but he was removed from his job at the
leather factory that had been the family business for over 150 years.
Constantly harassed and followed by government agents, their life as they knew it destroyed,
John’s family needed to do something.
The almost 10 year old at the time John now recalls;
“Rather than face ongoing terror, my parents decided to try to escape from Czechoslovakia a
second time. I remember our escape very vividly— waiting for the moon to be obscured by
clouds so we couldn’t be seen, carefully watching the tall guard towers with their machine guns
and searchlights, holding tight to the rope that provided the only way for our group of six to stay
together in the darkness and the mist, alternately running and dropping to the ground across the
open, roughly plowed land at the border, crawling under the barbed wire, and repeating whole
process until we crossed the remainder of the plowed land and entered the forest on the other
side. This was the Russian Zone of post-war Austria, however, so we were still far from safety.
Obviously, we ultimately made it.”
https://naturesdepths.com/personal-roots/
For John and his family a bright moonlit night was life-threatening.
To me it’s life-affirming.
Both views are valid depending on one’s perspective.
In the song, BOTH SIDES NOW, Joni Mitchell looks at clouds, love, and life from both sides and
concludes that she doesn’t really KNOW any of them at all.
The song seems to contrast the optimism of youth and the complications of adulthood.
Seeming simplicity versus actual complexity.
In my life I’ve been fortunate as a boy to be a son and grandson, now, as a man I am blessed to
be a father and a grampa. I’ve looked at both sides of those relationships and I’m not sure I’ve
really figured them out either. I just plug away as best I can.
Maybe we’re not meant to really understand some of these things, but perhaps the point is to at
least understand that THERE ARE BOTH SIDES, and that, regardless where you’re standing
now, or who you’re standing with, we’ve all traveled different roads to arrive right here, right
now, and if you make the time to listen, the stories are pretty amazing!
Who knew?!
