A record-setting day!

Today's snowfall may set Minnesota's record for snowiest February in the record books. Lots of folks seem excited about that but, perhaps, not as many as are grumbling about today's commute or more time with the kids home from school. We had a different thought this morning, one that, looked at properly, can be as exciting as setting a monthly snowfall record that may or may not ever be broken. Every single day of our life, for each and every one of us, sets records. Have you ever lived today before? No? Then anything you do today will set some sort of record as a personal best or first.

every snowflake everywhere is unique, just like each day

Photo by J. Harrington

We're going to have a short posting today because we need to go clear snow from the driveway. Every snow flake that gets cleared will set a new personal best snow clearing record. Not our favorite record, bit still... Never before have we written and posted today's blog. Another record set. But life isn't necessarily about setting records as much as it is about participation and connection. The birds and squirrels, as far as we know, are concerned with food, shelter, avoiding predation, and, as the snow stops, procreation. Mary Oliver, among others, has helped us realize this in an awesomely effective oeuvre. So, before we go walk the dogs in the snowstorm, and fire up the snowblower, we'll share (again) with you one of our favorites of her poems. It also helps us remember that soon the snow will be going from and the geese returning to our North Country.

wild geese return with the Spring season

Photo by J. Harrington

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting 

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

from Dream Work by Mary Oliver

published by Atlantic Monthly Press

© Mary Oliver

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