The old bamboo groves seemed to be less dark and threatening than before. They are getting old and lacked the attention of the owners who are now too old and weak to manage all the bamboos on the land. In the evening, hundreds of white migrating birds would be back to sleep there. I could never took nice photos of these birds with my iPhone, so I just watched them flying above my head every day. My gardener told me that a villager had been inside the bamboo groves with traps of squirrels.
This year I noticed an increase in squirrel population; these included the usual grey colour and red, brown, deep black and all white squirrels too. They helped themselves to our fruits; they did climb every fruit tree in the garden and left teeth markings on some fruits. My gardener was too slow to pick up these ripen fruits; the squirrels seemed to pick all the best fruits! I just hoped these squirrels would be smart to avoid the hunters’ traps. The slow walk was very calming and relaxing for my busy brain. This walk helped me to reconnect with the earth and natural surrounding.
The old wooden house and the front yard had been nicely tidy by a professional team of workmen hired by my neighbour. How things changed within a few days; all the thick bushes and weeds disappeared like magic. This house used to be a playground for some villagers’ dogs. I used to visited this old house often when the old man was looking after the garden abs bamboo groves nearby. People I know are getting older and weaker; these are the oldest generation of villagers who still remember stories from older generations. They were the ones who keep the stories or historical details about the village. Younger people did not realise how precious these old people’s experiences and memories were to their tradition and cultural identity.
These elders of the village still had the wisdom and knowledge handed down through older generations. They would lead villagers in the annual ceremony to pay respect to local and ancestral spirits; they would know how to call dead people’ spirits from road accidents to return to their village for proper funeral ceremonies and they even knew how to chase away disruptive spirits from the village. Just like the old wooden house, one day it would vanished and so would all these elders. I wonder how the younger generations would be able to keep the cultural cohesion and unity of villagers in the future.
My neighbour did have a big plan to develop the land by the riverfront. Two trackers came to work on the clearing of the land in three days. Only a few fruit trees remained on the land, all other trees and bushes were cleared. This meant that small wild lives would lose all their habitat which must have been quite a shock to them. I was quite disturbed by the forceful way human conquered their natural surroundings. I wished she had left a small corner of the land as a sanctuary for wild lizards and birds.
I suggested to her about planning her new garden with some survival purposes if a regional war or world war broke out in the future. She had a big laugh and told me that she would rather die in the war rather than having to live in a devastated world. I could understand her logic but I wondered if she would have the chance of instant departure during the fighting fallouts. She told me not to worry too much about the future; but to live in the present. I thought planning about the future was a part of living in the present and being aware of myriads of global factors affecting life on earth.
However, my neighbour seemed to have a big headache and indecisiveness about the planting projects on her land. Luckily she could afford to have the workmen to change the layout of the planting beds in one day! I just wish I had that kind of resources; I would have dug up an ‘earthship’ home or ‘bunker’! I have lots of ideas waiting to be tested in the future, just for survival purposes in case of a regional war. But I prayed often that things wouldn’t turn out that bad and that miracles could still happen.
I followed a narrow path up to the riverfront just in time to catch the sunset. I could have a wider view of my neighbour’s house and land in front of her house. She had two gardeners helping with planting flowering plants by the fence. Soon these two gardeners would be busy watering new plants everyday. My neighbour had changed her mind twice already about her choices of trees and plants. So, I would have to wait for two weeks after the project had been completed. If I had more land like this, I would probably plant hard wood trees for selling carbon credits and hard wood in the future.
Life by the riverfront is simple and rather dull except for the sunsets. This relatively stable environment gives me a sense of certainty and continuity of life which really helps calming me down from my worldly worries. The river and earth give stabilising energies for my well being while the sky always tries to lighten up my spirit. The sunset tries to persuade me about better days and hopeful future. Perhaps the local guardians and Nagas in the river would protect the area from natural disasters and man made upheavals too. More contemplation and prayers are needed for fostering healing vibes to spread around the world.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.
