Temporary

Attending the Home and Garden Show at the Tacoma Dome last weekend, I was especially drawn to the excellent Vintage market.  So many things that I remember using - the same kind of electric typewriter (really uptown for sure) that a college housemate let me use to type papers, a set of mugs identical to one I once received in new condition as a gift, etc.  Sometimes when looking at antiques and vintage items, the fact that they have a story and past makes me smile and other times, the realization that everything we own will someday be either garbage or floating around in places like this makes me a little sad.

 A dear departed friend once said as part of a memorable sermon that everything we love, a house, a person, possessions, even life itself, will eventually be taken from us.   These items are reminders both of simpler and in some ways happier times and of the temporal nature of life.  Like a beautiful piece of music, a life vibrates in time/dances upon a stage for a moment and is gone.

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.
Any fool can do it, there ain't nothing to it.
Nobody knows how we got to the top of the hill.
But since we're on our way down, we might as well enjoy the ride.

 - James Taylor   "Secret O' Life"

"Temporary" by John Bucchino

Honey come here I have something to tell you

It won't make things perfect 

And it may not make sense 

But someday you'll see it as clear as my smile

 Do you know the word temporary ?

 It means only for a little while.      

And everything is temporary

A friend moves, a tooth aches

A pet dies, a toy breaks 

The detours a life takes

Temporary

Everything is temporary

A storm clears, a tear dries

A wing heals, a bird flies

The trust lighting your eyes

Temporary 

I know you want things to stay the same 

I know it's hard to watch a childhood

Going up in smoke

It's hard for me to watch a child 

Who's growing up

And choke back all the warnings

I could scream

To protect you from the things

That aren't as solid as they seem

But then, I'm only temporary 

Everything is temporary 

A child leaves, a heart breaks

A love dies, a world shakes 

The difference one life makes

Temporary 

The trick is:

Hold it now as tightly as you can

Whether it's your favorite toy

Or a sad little boy who's trying hard

To be a brave little man 

Hold it tighter 'cause you know 

You'll have to let it go 

If you learn this, though

You won't feel so sad: 

A playmete, a tearstain 

A Christmas, a dad 

The best times 

The worst pain 

All temporary

Looking at all of this stuff is like going through someone else's attic except that everything isn't wrapped in newspaper, stuffed away in boxes, covered with dust.  How fun is that?

 Although I admire the weathered boards and peeling paint look of shabby chic, I can't pull it off very well.  Probably because there's too much dark wood in our house or something.

This lady was a serious temptation and would have made an interesting addition to the greenhouse but she stayed.

She's obviously learned to enjoy the moment.  As a page of the Ziggy calendar in my college dorm room read, "We should enjoy here because there's no here there."

 The bank in my hometown had a scale like this on display that had been used there to weigh gold.
Aren't we an interesting species?  Some shiny rocks have value and are used as currency...hmmm.

Speaking of the temporary nature of things, did you know that the timbers used to frame the roof of the dome were harvested from trees blown down as a result of the eruption of Mount Saint Helens? At the time of construction, the Tacoma Dome was the world's  largest wooden dome and the aluminum super grid is still one of the world's largest.

May you  enjoy each moment of our temporary time in this life as fully as possible!  Happy weekend and happy gardening (and junking) all!