Our front neighbours (the lovely Soo couple) is having thier house renovated - quite an elaborate make-over. I think it is rather tastefully done, and the people working on it have been very professional. The only regret I have is that in the process they also got rid of my favourite flowering shrub just ouside their gate - a shrub that had been there for the last 28 years!
I was told the workers needed room and "accidentally" chopped it off. Sadly, a week after I registered my regret, the remaining stump (about a foot high- sufficient for salvage) was also dug up and disposed off. Again it was wrongly assumed by the workers that the stump was no longer of any use! Mr & Mrs Soo agreed with me that it was such a shame to lose that magnificent shrub, although I suspect they were not half as upset as I was over it (and it was'nt even my shrub).
In Mrs Soo's words "we have another smaller plant that we can put there!", which underscored her practical wisdom versus my mushy and perhaps less practical sentiment. Come to think of it there really are many things we can get philosophical over, often feel want to do and should do, but for one reason or another just never can get round to doing them - if only we can ...
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If only we’d spend time to observe closely
Everything around us, everything we see
To seek wisdom from those ordinary things
To find lessons in every surrounding
To learn from the tiniest and the humblest
To discover greatness in the smallest
To appreciate each of nature’s own creation
To analyze each case in each situation
To understand oneself as rightly one should
To strive and search for only the good
How much better the world would really be
If we could all these things observe and see
In the floating petal sheer grace and beauty
In the ever busy bee thrift and industry
In the tiny ants success and strength in unity
In the inching snail patience and humility
In the marching clouds the silence of dignity
In the morning mist the breath of purity
In the fading sunset a farewell and a wonder
In the distant stars a humbling reminder
It’d be great to watch all these; me and you
But then nothing else we’d have time to do!
4 comments:
Hmmm...there was a bush in front of their house?
Didn't think you'd notice it. We had to "negotiate" it every time we played badminton on the road in front of the house. It once saved me from slipping into the drain when trying to retreieve ED's shuttle...
i only noticed their twin shaggy dogs running around and shrieking sounds of the violin for the past 28 yrs...shrubs no.
Hahaha...yah, remember when we used to have BBQs outside and had to endure the eeeennk ooonk eeenk ooonk of the budding violinist. But that was not Mrs Soo's house lah. That was the other neighbour we ignored except for when Raya came about and we gave the kuih.
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