Of Mountains And MoleHills

by Florence Ondré

I was musing this morning about how we take everything so seriously and ponder our words and actions, weighing the effects and reactions, thinking along the lines of, ‘what will they think, feel or do?’ or ‘how will this impact my life or the lives of others?’

And then the Robert Green Ingersoll quote, “In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds,” came into my email box.

I love the serendipitous connections that show up, reminding me that everything is connected and, in this case, ‘don’t sweat the small stuff; it’s all small stuff’ remains true. Life’s still best when taken with a grain of salt and a sense of humor to lighten our bad selves up.

These reminders made me smile and, minutes later, I guffawed as my dear Tom tried to reach ever so carefully over the doorsill for the large package of mail which had been held at the post office while we were away, now just delivered. He was serious in trying valiantly and creatively to avoid touching where the exterminator had applied new organic, springtail pest remedy (which smells worse than the chemical poisons. we’re for organic but pew!).

There was Tom, pirouetting one-legged on a green piece of paper some advertiser had left on the porch; working to avoid his feet contacting exterminator slick; arms stretched like lifelines forward to grab the batch of mail which was held together with rubber bands, when it all went awry.

The bands went boing! and mail flew out like a splayed popcorn eruption, splat all over the porch.

I couldn’t help it. I laughed out loud and thankfully so did he. We rolled, recognizing the humor of how careful attempts can become another of ’funniest home videos’ and land you like a cartoon character, kerplunk, in the mud anyway.

The whole event reminded me that much of our days’ occurrences are fodder for future comedy routines.

Life laughs at us so why not join in? What are the alternatives? Getting your knickers in a twist; your panties in a bunch? Or a face full of frown furrows?

I’m thinking, ‘I’m getting lines on my face as I go and grow so they might as well be laugh lines.’

Experiences can seem so large and important to us; every situation practically a U.N. decision maker or breaker, only to find months or years later you can barely remember what the big fuss was all about and you laugh to think about how you agonized over it at all when here you are all this time later in such a different space, energy or mind set that makes what loomed large into a tiny grain of sand.

Perhaps you think someone special who hurt your feelings by not even acknowledging your birthday just didn’t give a hoot about you anymore. They know you’re a birthday celebrating fool and here they are M.I.A. on your special day! WTF?

You tuck in, feel unloved, vow to never celebrate them from here on out and nurse that mountain silently and stoically until months later you find a funny card with lots of hand scribbled ‘love you’s’ all over it, buried in some stack of mail which you never opened.

There you go.

There’s your molehill.

Talking with Tom, about the serious turned silly, we laughed about how much time we’d spent over the years worrying and getting bent out of shape about stuff that either never occurred or never wound up being all that and a bag of chips in the long run.

How many arguments have we all gone through and gotten over, past or around and thought, looking back, “What was the big deal? Why couldn’t I have taken a breath, said my piece and let it go or been silent and allowed the universal flow to bring better outcomes than I could imagine into being for the best for all? Why couldn’t I hold onto remembering that we are puny humans on a large revolving and evolving orb in a cosmos within a cosmos or the knowing that even mountains are passing clouds in eternity?”

It is a good thing that, among our attributes, we were blessed with a sense of humor.

What better place to laugh, than at one’s own self as we find our individual and common balances and footholds on our individual Everests?

My sons have grown to be responsible men today with beautiful families full of love and all the challenges and lessons that come with.

I see their children; my grand children (& they are so grand!) happy and laughing; sweet, loving and loveable and I know my boys are doing a good job as parents and as partners of beautiful, strong, creative women.

Their work in the world may vary and they may be serious about providing for and nourishing their families well. Being responsible is a good quality they all have. And I’m hoping they can at the same time, always tap-in to the kids they were in my home, where there were a lot of serious times and challenges, and above the trials and errors of life, remember the silly; the falling down, sidesplitting laughter with each other; giggling over goofs and antics; getting over hurts and slights and going back to the roots of humor as days became years gone by; remembering that love is what lasts beyond seasons and laughter lightens the load.

I hope my sons and their children have the ability to laugh long and often at themselves and life as it impacts the fan of every day living.

Maybe we can all remember that sometimes you get cabbage and sometimes it becomes slaw.

I say throw some pineapple in there. Vary up the meal of the day with the ingredients that show up.

That fan might help produce a new recipe to share.