Comments on: even? http://jlegler.com/archives/12 simple things that interest me Mon, 05 Dec 2011 06:23:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: MOM http://jlegler.com/archives/12/comment-page-1#comment-7 MOM Mon, 10 Dec 2007 02:44:43 +0000 http://blog.jlegler.com/?p=12#comment-7 I'm Jason's mom and currently into recognizing and sometimes even enjoying those coincidences, those apparent accidents life sends my way. I grew up on that ranch Jason described and on occasion I was allowed to irrigate the hayfields. When I was a child, irrigation was managed by placing a canvas dam in a fairly small ditch and cutting out areas of earth with a shovel for the water to overflow in the direction one wanted to irrigate. I couldn't manage the dams very well, but I could go up on the hill and open new cuts, close old cuts and change the path the precious water would take. My father had taught me that beavers had their place, but their place was not in our ditch. And so one day when I was ten or eleven I ran into a young beaver in the ditch where I was making cutouts. He should not have been there, it was not a large enough ditch for him to do anything in. In hindsight, I'd say we were both young and stupid. Knowing how my dad felt about beavers, I decided to get rid of him. I'm not entirely certain where the impetus for this decision came from, but I decided the ditch was mine. All I had was my shovel. I walked along the narrow ditch and when I got near the young beaver, I hit him as hard as I could with the shovel. Of course it didn't kill him, so I hit him again....and again...and again. This event happened a lifetime ago - and I honestly can't remember if I killed that beaver or not. I think I probably did. I do remember running down the hill to the house, weeping, feeling empty and wretched. And I also remember making a vow to never intentionally hurt another living thing. It's a vow I've worked to keep. Isn't it interesting that a beaver taught me such a valuable lesson that long ago day? Isn't it interesting that same archetypal beaver taught my son a similar lesson? The beaver is known for his work ethic, his stubborn determination to get the job done. Isn't it interesting that Jason and I both share the work ethic of the beaver? I'd say we both got a whole lot more than we took on the banks of that Colorado ditch. I’m Jason’s mom and currently into recognizing and sometimes even enjoying those coincidences, those apparent accidents life sends my way. I grew up on that ranch Jason described and on occasion I was allowed to irrigate the hayfields. When I was a child, irrigation was managed by placing a canvas dam in a fairly small ditch and cutting out areas of earth with a shovel for the water to overflow in the direction one wanted to irrigate. I couldn’t manage the dams very well, but I could go up on the hill and open new cuts, close old cuts and change the path the precious water would take. My father had taught me that beavers had their place, but their place was not in our ditch.

And so one day when I was ten or eleven I ran into a young beaver in the ditch where I was making cutouts. He should not have been there, it was not a large enough ditch for him to do anything in. In hindsight, I’d say we were both young and stupid. Knowing how my dad felt about beavers, I decided to get rid of him. I’m not entirely certain where the impetus for this decision came from, but I decided the ditch was mine. All I had was my shovel. I walked along the narrow ditch and when I got near the young beaver, I hit him as hard as I could with the shovel. Of course it didn’t kill him, so I hit him again….and again…and again.

This event happened a lifetime ago – and I honestly can’t remember if I killed that beaver or not. I think I probably did. I do remember running down the hill to the house, weeping, feeling empty and wretched. And I also remember making a vow to never intentionally hurt another living thing. It’s a vow I’ve worked to keep.

Isn’t it interesting that a beaver taught me such a valuable lesson that long ago day? Isn’t it interesting that same archetypal beaver taught my son a similar lesson? The beaver is known for his work ethic, his stubborn determination to get the job done. Isn’t it interesting that Jason and I both share the work ethic of the beaver? I’d say we both got a whole lot more than we took on the banks of that Colorado ditch.

]]> By: indiechouette http://jlegler.com/archives/12/comment-page-1#comment-6 indiechouette Sun, 09 Dec 2007 22:28:20 +0000 http://blog.jlegler.com/?p=12#comment-6 My mother, a naturally skinny woman, used to say that being fat and then losing weight was more rewarding than being naturally thin. Whenever she used to say that, I moaned and groaned because I didn't understand. But reading this anecdote reminded me of that. Having had some sort of experience with killing an animal, and then seeing him not die, and feeling that sense of guilt, you said that gave you reason not to do it again. And I suppose that kind of thing is in some ways better than being raised to not kill animals. Kind of like sweating to learn a new language instead of growing up bilingual or growing up under the influence of a certain political mindset and growing away from that. Anyway, I enjoyed this here story. My mother, a naturally skinny woman, used to say that being fat and then losing weight was more rewarding than being naturally thin. Whenever she used to say that, I moaned and groaned because I didn’t understand.

But reading this anecdote reminded me of that. Having had some sort of experience with killing an animal, and then seeing him not die, and feeling that sense of guilt, you said that gave you reason not to do it again. And I suppose that kind of thing is in some ways better than being raised to not kill animals. Kind of like sweating to learn a new language instead of growing up bilingual or growing up under the influence of a certain political mindset and growing away from that.

Anyway, I enjoyed this here story.

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