ahimsa – Alexandra Langstaff

“You don’t have a Bucket List?”, he asked incredulously. “Aren’t there places you want to go and see, or things you want to do before you die?”

I was a little caught off guard so I hoped he wouldn’t ask why I didn’t have one. The subject had never come up for me, ever, anywhere. I had no nutshell answer at the ready.

Now if he asked why I didn’t have a tattoo, I could answer easily. “I can’t think of a thing I’d want permanently etched on my body.”

If I’d been allowed to get a tattoo in 7th grade, what an idiot I’d feel like 50 years later with a Smiley Face, and Alfred E. Neuman from “Mad” Magazine on my person.

But he did ask why, so I had to think fast.

“I don’t like bucket lists because I do what I want when I can. Making a list of things I want to accomplish before I kick the bucket is a surefire way to get my blood pressure up. If I don’t complete the list does that mean I’m a failure? If I complete the list is it time to die? Why set myself up for something stupid like that?”

Sometimes I have a tendency to wreck a conversation.

A similar thing happens to me when asked, “What would you do if you won the lottery?” I hate hypothetical questions truth be told, but prudently I came up with a pat answer for this after taking the BP cuff off for the 90th time.

“I’d pay off our mortgage, pay off my student loan, weatherproof the porch, and support causes that are important to me whether they be organizations, friends, family, do-gooders or people in need.”

Hmmm. Sounds suspiciously like a bucket list.

For some, bucket lists are a way to keep personal wants, goals, desires and dreams organized.

The practice of yoga encourages us to live and be in the moment, aware of who we are and what we have.

What we want, ideally, comes down to what we need.

I suppose there is one thing that appears on my nonexistent list, a big old pair of martini set diamond earrings. (Look them up, they are a thing.)

It seems my earlobes are bigger, in fact my ears seem bigger. Would diamonds help? Do they have to be real? Well diamonds are a girl’s best friend, so Marilyn Monroe sang, and I love that gal.

Cubic Zirconia could work, but I hope they or any diamonds thrown my way are not causing harm to others.

But do I need them?

I guess my bucket list, if I have to have one, would be to make sure that what I want or need isn’t wrecking someone else’s list. Ahimsa, the first Yama, means do no harm.

Namaste- just a grocery list today!

“A groundhog lives in the old culvert next to the new daffodil bulbs. I need to trap him”, Mom said.

I think she meant I was supposed to trap him.
I’m not very good at catching things. When mice come in the house I use a stern voice and tell them to scram before the lazy old cat upstairs sees them. Honeybun has a different tactic that we won’t go into now.

Two days later the Have- a -Heart trap was set by someone other than me. A day later the squatter was caught. Had stopped by and said he would pick it up later. Dee said she would come sooner. Mom was concerned that he/she/ it would overheat in the sun and maybe get thirsty. So Dee was summoned.
As Dee tried to pick up the cage she said “Wow it’s looking at me, get a towel.”

Maybe she thought covering it would induce sleep like with a parakeet.

Mom returned with a towel on the end of a broom and held it out to Dee. I guess she wanted to remain out of its line of vision.

Mom described the grunts and shrieks as Dee lifted the lurching cage.

“From the groundhog?” I asked.

“No, from Dee.”

They got the cage into the car and Mom asked where Dee would take it.

“ The brook…wait aren’t you coming?”

“Well I had not thought so.”

Dee made Mom drive while she sat in the back next to Mr. Hog. She wanted to be sure it didn’t escape and jump over the seat and cause an accident. They drove to the brook turn off and Dee struggled bringing the cage to the embankment.

“How do you open this thing?”

“What?” (Mom was trying to pretend she wasn’t there.)

After Dee got it open mom said the varmit ran off with glee and happiness . I asked if it turned back to say “Bless you both”.
According to Dee mom did a 15 point turn to get out of the parking area. At one point she was precariously close to the ditch.

“If we get stuck the groundhog will have to call 911. I need a drink.” She said.

“Me too” said Dee.

After hearing the story me three. I’m so glad I didn’t have to participate.
Ahimsa, non-violence, is what those two practiced that day. They relocated the animal to a place where there were no worries about noisy lawnmowers or human activity. Neither Mom nor Dee wanted harm to the squatter in her yard despite its natural tendency to eat bulbs.

After describing the adventure mom added “ I hope her babies find her.”

I said silently “we always find you”.
When can we practice ahimsa (a-him-sa)? How can we choose non violence even when it may wreck your garden?
Namaste, ground hog ground hog go away.

Tag: ahimsa

Bucket Shmuck-it

Groundhog Day sort of.