Noggin
Notes
“Life
is not a support system for art. It's the other way around.”
Stephen
King (On Writing)
You
may be wondering why I have not posted fabulous photos of beach
sunrises and tropical flowers from my trip to Costa Rica. It's not
because I didn't take some—it's because I can't figure out how to
upload them from my phone. For some of us, technology is a pain in
the ...well, you know. We went ten for ten when it came to technology
in that part of the world—no GPS, no phone beyond email, and in
lots of places, no signal at all. When we were lost in the misty
mountains with darkness approaching, it was not technology that saved
us but two kind police officers in a patrol car. When we appealed to
them for help in English, they responded in Spanish, but they still
somehow understood that we were lost. They did not resort to
technology, but to good old common courtesy—they escorted us twenty
miles or so and put us on the right road. We had made the stupid
mistake of having no paper map.
In
writing my blog, I had to rely on my limited ability to describe what
was before my eyes, because the photos would not upload. I wanted so
much to show you the the red and yellow Bird of Paradise flowers, the
twelve foot high, lipstick red hibiscus, the cotton candy pink and
purple bougainvillea. We saw a trailing vine covering a chain-link
fence at McDonald's in San Jose, where we stopped to call for help,
because once again, we were lost. Lavender and white orchid-like
flowers against dark green leaves sprouted from it like morning
glories. And then the exotic flower that no one seemed able to
identify. It hung from a shoot that came straight up from the ground,
then draped down like a stalk of bananas. The flowers were oval disks
of deep fuchsia pink with spring green tips, about fourteen to an
equally pink stalk. There were flowers everywhere, and no working
technology to capture their beauty.
There's
a lesson in there somewhere—about our reliance on mechanical
devices and how quickly and easily they can betray us. Thankfully, I
have eyes that work, and a memory that stores data right inside my
noggin. And so do you. We just need to remember how to use them. And,
for the love of God, take a paper map!
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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