Dandelions: You Call It Weed, I Call It Reincarnation
Posted: May 22, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Chicago Park district, crocus, dandelions, DJ Marcussen, gardening, Hubby, karma, light, reincarnation, weed 1 CommentI’ve always told Hubby and some of my friends that if reincarnation exists, I hope I come back as a dandelion. I come by this type of thinking naturally, as I can remember a relative saying he wanted to come back as “Groshans dog”. (The implication was my dad’s dog had a better life than most people. It was true.)
People I’ve told this to usually chuckle and nod, and keep their thoughts to themselves (“she’s ’round the bend again!”), but Hubby thinks it’s a pretty cool idea.
Dandelion, as it turns out, is his favorite flower.
Yeah, we all know what Hubby is like, I’ve written about him before. (see The Light Of My Life.) I suppose, in the “strange” department, I’m the perfect match for him. But seriously, don’t we all have our quirks? I’m just admitting to mine.
I honestly don’t know how I feel about reincarnation. Part of me is disturbed by the idea of having to come back again and again until I get it right, since I can’t see myself ever getting it right!
Another part of me thinks the whole karma of having another chance is a nice thought, and can really take a load of pressure off you if you’re a control freak who is always trying to live up to your own expectations.
Some people would think that, because I say I’m a Christian, then I have no business even discussing the idea of reincarnation. Well, I realize the whole point of Christianity is that Christ covers those sins so you don’t need to come back. I have no argument there, but for this post I’m entertaining the idea of reincarnation anyway.
I guess you’d have to say my faith fits me, not any set of denominational standards or religious rules. I’m happy with it this way. We all do the best we can with how we interpret what we experience.
And then there’s the way I observe the natural world around me. I know that everything in the garden gets recycled. If nature recycles (and certainly we are part of nature), then why wouldn’t we? Someone is going to point out here that reincarnation refers to soul recycling, not our bodies, which do get recycled. But remember, I’m the person that believes plants have souls (see Ode To My Crocus).
It’s not just dead plants and clippings that recycle, most of the things we think are rot proof, really aren’t. Ever read that book The World Without Us by Alan Weisman?
So how can anyone say for sure that reincarnation does or does not belong in a person’s belief system, when life from death is all around us? No one has answers to these things, and as I said, I don’t even know if I believe in reincarnation.
(As an aside, if you’re a big fantasy or mythology fan, check out Pen In Her Hand for information on Life After Life and the Once Upon A Time challenge.)
But back to the dandelion thing….
My reason for being a dandelion is not because Hubby loves them, since I didn’t even know dandelion was his favorite flower until he pointed it out to me this Spring. Rather, the reason I think of “dandelion” comes from a purely logical standpoint. Logical to me, anyway.
I wouldn’t want to be just any dandelion. I’d want to be one of those dandelions in the parks, or hell strips by the side of the road.
Think about it.
The city isn’t going to bother spraying for weeds there. That’s wasted money, (Chicago Tribune – Park District dandelion policy). So you wouldn’t get “offed” by a systemic vegetation killer. And because dandelions spread like – well, weeds – you’d have lots of dandelions around you. Sort of like being with all your friends and relatives.
During your short life span you’d have the sun on your backs and the wind in your hair (er… leaves). Not to mention you and your friends would look downright gorgeous creating that beautiful swath of bright yellow. Imagine the cheery image you give the drivers as they pass!
The worst that would happen to you is you’d get your head cut off every so often when the city sent out the lawn crew. Is that so bad, as long as you can still live and grow?
Then, you’re off to your next reincarnation, having enjoyed a basically carefree “breather”, before you come back as a person again, with all their struggles and insecurities.
What do you think? By the way, anyone who’s brave enough to add comments to this off-beat, silly post, I salute you.
Man, I Love A Good Disaster Flick
Posted: May 5, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Andromeda Strain, Bruce Willis, Dennis Quaid, disaster flick, DJ Marcussen, heroes, Independence Day, Jeff Goldblum, light, Pierce Brosnan, The Day After Tomorrow, Towering Inferno 2 CommentsI love disaster flicks. Show me a movie where a chunk of humanity is catastrophically destroyed and I’m a happy camper.
Who can forget The Andromeda Strain (epidemic catastrophe). Or Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (extraterrestrial copy machines).
Armageddon, an asteroid catastrophe starring Bruce Willis as the over-protective father of Liv Tyler (who’s caught doing “the nasty” with Ben Affleck). Or OutBreak, where the dynamic duo of Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo battle both an epidemic AND a government cover-up.
Then there’s Deep Impact (Tea Leoni, Robert Duvall, Morgan Freeman), desperately trying to keep themselves and others from getting wiped out by a comet.
Some disaster flicks I watch again and again, until I can recite the lines by heart. It doesn’t hurt if there’s one of my favorite Hollywood hunks in the flick, either.
I’d be a stand-in any day of the week for Linda Hamilton, who plays the love interest to Pierce Brosnan in Dante’s Peak (a nasty volcano eruption).
Or invite me to join the all-star cast in the world’s tallest building, The Towering Inferno. Yeah, as you can tell by the title it’s the hot spot in town. Who wouldn’t want to be rescued by Paul Newman or Steve McQueen?
Another all-star cast movie, Independence Day, has one of the best scenes Bill Pullman ever did. Will Smith and Jeff Goldlblum (who I’m totally enamored with) were off blowing up the invading alien headquarters when Pullman gave his rousing speech to the few remaining fighter pilots. What a guy.
Whether it be old flicks (1958’s The Blob – McQueen’s first leading role), or new (Contagion – 2011), I watch them all.
I’m obviously not alone in my love of disaster flicks, else there wouldn’t be so many.
One of the blogs I follow, gracerellie.wordpress.com, is written by a woman who is making a career out of writing about disasters, (the real ones, not Hollywood versions). Her blog is relatively new (meaning, active for less than 5 years), and yet, in the small amount of time she’s been blogging, she’s developed a healthy following.
Why is that? What is it about disasters that we love?
My hubby doesn’t particularly care for them. He watches them with me from time to time because he knows I love them, but he finds them too violent for his tastes. He thinks watching scads of people in dire situations, many of them dying, is looking at the negative side of life.
He says we should love people, not kill them off in movies. He wonders if the reason we watch disasters is because, deep down, we just don’t like each other.
I disagree with him on this point.
I seriously have no desire to wipe out my fellow (wo)man. Sometimes I might feel like I do, but when push comes to shove, I don’t want to see harm come to any of them. I know they’re just doing the best they can and trying to get by, just like me. We’re just people, after all.
No, I think the reason we love disaster flicks is because it helps to ease the pain of life’s “helplessness”.
Think about it.
Don’t most disaster flicks involve forces outside of our control? Don’t we all have those feelings of anger over the helplessness we feel in life? Over situations, circumstances, and other people’s actions?
In disaster flicks there’s tidal waves, earthquakes, twisters, asteroids, epidemics, alien invasions, volcanoes, climate change, fire, building collapses, etc. None of these things are in your control!
Not only that, but in disaster flicks, the main characters are usually trying to save as many other people as possible. They may not do it in the best way (for example, deciding who will and will not be in the rescue ships of 2012), but they are still trying to save each other as well as themselves.
Disaster flicks have another thing in common… they almost always end on a positive note.
New research is achieved in Twister (Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton), which allows for earlier tornado warnings for communities. Humanity – or what’s left of it – is still saved from extinction (The Terminator movies). And in Knowing, the aliens at the end are actually friendly… they save many of our children from the solar flare that destroys the rest of mankind, and re-start humanity on another planet.
Thing is… in life there is great joy… but also great difficulty. It doesn’t matter who you are or what your circumstances, at times, life will kick you upside the head and throw you in a tailspin.
The world is full of broken people.
We need to see people survive the impossible. Disaster movies give us hope. They give us heroes.
I think God understands this need to see a conquering of the uncontrollable. The bible, certainly, is full of disasters. It’s also full of God’s rescue for the afflicted. It’s the original disaster book, pre-digital. The darkness of strife and the beautiful dawn of overcoming, these are major themes in our religious beliefs.
Oh, and for the record, my all-time favorite disaster flick?
The Day After Tomorrow, a climate change disaster starring Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal. Except for the political references, it’s very similar to a book I’ve been a fan of for years – The Sixth Winter -written by John Gribbin and Douglas Orgill back in the early 80’s.
If you get a chance, check this book out from your local library. It’s a good ice age disaster that was written before all the political positions got involved in the science of climate change.
Just good, cold fun!
Even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. Psalm 139:12
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