or evincing yearning with little
expectation of gratification" and the word is derived from
"wishful."
The problem with
"wistfulness," then, is that it also implies that I'm wanting
something -- "wishing" for it. But, again, the fact is that this
birdsong-feeling I'm having isn't making me want anything. I'm just happy to
hear it, and to associate a lot of good memories with it.
After fiddling with the thesaurus
for some time I'm thinking that maybe in English we just don't have an
appropriate term. "Sentimental," "romantic,"
"dreamy," "emotional," "longing" ... none hit the
mark.
Maybe the lack of exactly the right
word reflects a feature of our English language. That is, English is the tongue
of a target-obsessed people. We tend to think that everything exists for a
purpose. Most of us can't get our heads around the notion that maybe it's
enough for some things to simply exist as themselves in their own places, no
strings attached.
"We/a see/a,
etc.", Newsletter reader Leona in Missouri
writes me that her Indigo Bunting is calling. She describes her birds as
"filling the misty mornings with song, and they don't quit, they survived
and they are again with us. I am getting so old and creaky I just sit and
listen, and sitting, one eventually sees the singers."
Leona and her Indigo Bunting and me
with my Indigo Bunting all singing and sitting, beautifully. And maybe the neat
thing is that we don't really have a name for this thing we're doing.
The Tao says that that which calls
itself the Tao is not the Tao. Maybe not having a name for this bunting thing,
Leona and I are onto something real.
*****
ODOR OF FRESHLY GROUND WHEAT
Thursday morning Diana decided to make bread. She began by pouring several cups
of red wheat and white wheat grains into her mill and grinding her own flour.
The fresh flour issued a hearty, wholesome aroma of a transcendent nature. In
fact, I'd like to expose someone having a nervous breakdown to that precise
odor. I wouldn't be surprised if it brought peace to the poor soul. And if that
didn't becalm the person's spirit, then we could try the odor of freshly baking
homemade bread...
The funny thing is
that when you do something like make your own flour from freshly milled grain,
or do some hoeing in the garden, or mend your clothing, not only do you end up
saving money but also you find your life enriched, your health