When Wisdom Dies

Altered Image from Image by nvodicka from Pixabay

I am the last woman survivor from my nuclear family. Sometimes I feel inadequate with the expectation of the holder of knowledge and wisdom passed down through the generations. I am the Auntie and the mom and grandmother. Perhaps wisdom is actually simply the ability to listen without judgement and sharing of ideas.

When I think back on the older generations in my family, I try to remember our conversations and their counsel. I always felt they were wise and held all the answers in the universe, but thinking back now, I can challenge that thought. I can only remember a few instances of solid advice to serve as a solution to my problem of the moment.

Instead, I think they were powerful sounding boards for my own chaotic thoughts. I remember one conversation with my mother when she calmly said to me, “I think you know the answer.” She was right. And I think about how many times in the years that followed that I have offered the same observation to others.

When I have given advice constructed as what someone should or should not do, it lies like a bitter pill. Maybe that bitterness is the acknowledgement that no one can know the right answers for another.

I still do not know if we are all born with an innate sense of what is right and what is wrong. If we are, then our environment must  impact that sense beyond the mind’s ability to retain it.

My paternal grandmother died before my mother, but my maternal grandmother outlived my mother, her daughter. I wonder if they struggled with some of the same questions I have. I wonder if they felt ill-equipped for the role as I sometimes do.

Maybe Jimi Hendrix said it best:

“Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens”

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SoCS – Picture This

I guess Linda meant it when she talked about changing behavior. Who thought we would have a photo type prompt today! Visit Linda’s blog to get all the SoCS rules then join in on the SoCS fun!

Today’s prompt is as follows:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “a picture from wherever.” When you sit down to write your post, find a picture, whether in a magazine, newspaper, or even product packaging. Write whatever thought or emotion the picture provokes. Enjoy!

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Cover of Prairie Moon Nursery Catalog

In the spring we always go on the hunt for native plants. Even our best local nurseries sell a lot of non-native ornamental plants. It is perhaps a small effort for our local environment but an important one. I think we often discount the beauty of our natives species for the showy colors of plants imported from other places.

I was struck by the hummingbird on the photo. Our flowering season was so short this year. We had only one or two hummingbirds and sadly they seem to have disappeared. The hummingbirds are my favorite sign of spring. So many of these beautiful birds are dying because of poorly maintained feeders. We put out hummingbird feeders but we are very careful to keep the feeders clean and refreshed – this will be especially important during the predicted heat wave coming next week.

I am sad to see our native dogwoods choked out by non native wisteria. We have about 3 acres of land, most of which is woodland. In the spring we walk it before it becomes too overgrown and every year more and more nandina bushes appear. Their red toxicberries are a threat to the birds and wildlife. I see more and more Bradford pear trees dotting our landscape and integrated into our woodland environment. People forget the wind and the birds and animals spread these seeds far and wide. We have to do our part to minimize this danger.

And that leaves us with the pizzly bear. Have you heard of it? It is a cross between grizzly bear and a polar bear thought to be a result of polar bears moving further south to find new food sourced due to global warming.