I love it when I read something someone else writes and begin to contemplate the same thing in my own life. Do we walk parallel lines? Kim Douillard lives on the west coast. I live on the southern Gulf coast. She wrote, “The experience of taking the same photo over and over echoes what it means to be a teacher. Each day is filled with sameness.”
When I read her blog post, I was sitting on my back deck on the same day we shut down schools 4 years ago, listening to the same birdsong, the same train whistle, and watching the same sun slowly disappear. I took a picture of the same view I had then and still have today, but I am different. We all are. We drew a line in the sand of before and after. Who would have predicted that day (March 13, 2020) the trials we would experience? The illness that would take so many lives and send us into a tailspin of doubt and despair.
But in many ways, I remember that time fondly. My oldest daughter called me while I was sitting on the deck avoiding people to tell me she was pregnant. She didn’t know then if the baby would survive. It was the early scary days of new pregnancy. And now we have an adorable, smart, and hilarious 3 year old.
I spent that spring writing poetry, making what I could out of the strangeness of the world. Today I looked back into my media file and found two other pictures of this place in my world. Same but different.
Our students still grapple with the change of things. The educational system hasn’t figured out how to move forward. Have any of us?
Buddhist wisdom says that change is the only constant. My view comforts me. To see this old cypress sprout its bright green needles year by year holds hope. Nature shows us that things can change and be alive and well again. We can’t always see the movement, but it’s there, letting us know that God is here.
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” –Buddha
Thoughts
Margaret Simon, elfchen of the day
climb out
on a branch
spilling a seed droplet
Budding
Reflections on the Teche 
Margaret, what a beautiful reflection on this day, compared to where we were four years ago. I love seeing the three same but different photos of your yard and bayou.
That phrase “seed droplet” has captured me this morning.
So many words for thought today. Love the photos of the same place. As Denise said – same but different. We are the same and yet very different.
It has given we words for a new blog post myself. Thanks
Yes, indeed we are different, changed by life itself. I love knowing that we are comforted by our views, especially of nature.
This is beautiful – I love the idea of thinking about the same place, but we are different. The way you have peacefully captured that was wonderful to read.
Margaret, I love this! I feel that parallel line we walk, the sameness and the difference. The opportunities and the frustrations. The fear and the joy. Beautiful slice.
“Nature reminds us that things can change and be alive and well again” – Iove this truth, Margaret. Your post is such a celebration of our interconnectedness.