Most people will relate the word deciduous to its primary usage referring to leaves falling from a tree. That is what inspired me to go to this word today. For the fourth week in a row my yard is filled with golden and scarlet leaves from the beautiful oaks that surround our house.
At first I went at them with a rake, filling the required paper bags and putting them out for the trash people. But then the deluge of leaves increased and exceeded my ability (and willingness) to fight with them. Our lawn care people came along (we live in a condo) and spent an entire day blowing them and scooping them (with a bucket loader) into trucks and carting them away. For an hour or so the lawn and sidewalk looked wonderful. Thankfully, the crew returns this Friday to repeat the drama. I'll let them do it. So much for an autumn ritual which I will gladly forgo.
But I'm intrigued with the lesser (third) meaning of deciduous which my new friend, dictionary.com lists: not permanent; transitory. It has more far-reaching use than an annual ritual of preparation for the snows of winter.
It is easy for us to grasp permanency as a crutch, depending upon faithful and predictable habits, traits, or practices. Permanence has a comfortable feel to it, like an old pair of slippers or a favorite sweatshirt. In the midst of rapid change (see a previous posting which referred to Alvin Toffler's book, Future Shock) there is a hero quality given to those things which are predictable and dependable. But the reality is that there is much in our lives which is deciduous. Transitory pieces of our lives can be less predictable and harder to embrace.
Children struggle with transitions from elementary school to middle school to high school. Adults struggle with transitions from college to new job to new job to new job, ad infinitum. There was a time when one graduated from college, took a low-level position in a career path, and then spent one's productive life working the way up the ladder in that career. Many times it meant staying with one company, agency, university, or other entity until the gold watch appeared at the retirement party. Not so much any more!
But it is important to remember that even transitory events in life, similar to leaves falling from trees, have a predictable character to them. Even though the leaves will grow from buds in the springtime, to healthy green leaves in the summer and beautiful golden pieces of art in the autumn, we know that they will fall. There is a predictability to the impermanence of their short lives. The deciduous character of a tree's shedding, when viewed from the larger perspective, is only a temporary, repeatable experience.
At first I went at them with a rake, filling the required paper bags and putting them out for the trash people. But then the deluge of leaves increased and exceeded my ability (and willingness) to fight with them. Our lawn care people came along (we live in a condo) and spent an entire day blowing them and scooping them (with a bucket loader) into trucks and carting them away. For an hour or so the lawn and sidewalk looked wonderful. Thankfully, the crew returns this Friday to repeat the drama. I'll let them do it. So much for an autumn ritual which I will gladly forgo.
But I'm intrigued with the lesser (third) meaning of deciduous which my new friend, dictionary.com lists: not permanent; transitory. It has more far-reaching use than an annual ritual of preparation for the snows of winter.
It is easy for us to grasp permanency as a crutch, depending upon faithful and predictable habits, traits, or practices. Permanence has a comfortable feel to it, like an old pair of slippers or a favorite sweatshirt. In the midst of rapid change (see a previous posting which referred to Alvin Toffler's book, Future Shock) there is a hero quality given to those things which are predictable and dependable. But the reality is that there is much in our lives which is deciduous. Transitory pieces of our lives can be less predictable and harder to embrace.
Children struggle with transitions from elementary school to middle school to high school. Adults struggle with transitions from college to new job to new job to new job, ad infinitum. There was a time when one graduated from college, took a low-level position in a career path, and then spent one's productive life working the way up the ladder in that career. Many times it meant staying with one company, agency, university, or other entity until the gold watch appeared at the retirement party. Not so much any more!
But it is important to remember that even transitory events in life, similar to leaves falling from trees, have a predictable character to them. Even though the leaves will grow from buds in the springtime, to healthy green leaves in the summer and beautiful golden pieces of art in the autumn, we know that they will fall. There is a predictability to the impermanence of their short lives. The deciduous character of a tree's shedding, when viewed from the larger perspective, is only a temporary, repeatable experience.
i love this .... of course, i love this ... and there's a predictability to the impermanence of OUR short lives :) ... yes, that's a smile ... otherwise it'd all be too darn depressing.
ReplyDeleteWell, this may be presumptuous of me but I find your writing so good, so clear, and so interesting I suggest sites like The New Yorker and The Alantic - I am a regular reader of both. In my view your writing is equal to the quality I see in both magazines. Too, major papers e.g. Globe, Times, etc. Also, and while I am not that familiar with exact names - I suspect there are "literary" sites which you would find fertile soil for your style and content of writing.
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