#SoCS June 13/2020

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “nail.” Use it as a noun or a verb. Have fun!

The word nail immediately brought to mind my cousin. She lived with us for four years while studying in the engineering college here. She would get very tense when the exams drew near and I would see her biting nails. She would keep biting them till there was nothing left to bite 😊 . I don’t know if she has given up that habit, I must ask her.

I am reading this amazing book, The world is my home by James Michener. I have read many of his books and loved them. They have taken me to different places and to different times. In the first chapter he writes about a farmer living at the end of the lane where Michener lived. On an early spring day the farmer hammered eight long and rusty nails into the trunk of an aging apple tree. The tree was not bearing any fruit. But after the nails were hammered in, the tree was goaded back to life. That autumn it produced a bumper crop of wonderful apples. The farmer said the nails reminded the tree that its job was to produce apples. Michener writes that at the age of eighty there were some rusty nails hammered into his trunk, heart surgery and so on. He remembered the incident of the farmer and the apple tree which had taken place eighty years earlier. So, at the age of eighty five, he started writing this book. Actually, I have heard about people doing this in my place too. People also make slight cuts to the bark of the tree if it does not produce fruits for a long time. It is fascinating how some customs or beliefs are the same in different parts of the world.

And what a book this is !! The author has taken me all around the world and I am learning so much. I am just half way through the book. And the thought came to mind what I had read some time ago, ‘if you think you are too old to do something, do it anyway.’ 😊

By Lakshmi Bhat

I am a person who believes there is not enough darkness in the world to extinguish the light of a small candle. We live in a small place in South India. I love reading, blogging, stitching, traveling, photography, listening to people and many other things which make life so very nice and interesting. Blogging is a fun experience, it has brought me into contact with people in different parts of the world and it is good to read about their everyday life. In spite of the differences there is a sameness which is fascinating. I have learnt and am learning something everyday. I have learnt to write haikus. I enjoy combining the thought and the number of syllables. I have always read books and I was happy to write short fiction. I had thought I would not be able to do so. Stream of Consciousness and photo challenges are fun too. Yes, there is so much in life that is sad and that hurts us. Many a time I wonder why life is so unfair to so many. We all have problems in life but the problems of many seems unbearable. This makes me feel so helpless. It is not possible to help everyone but we can do our bit, we can do something to help some in whatever way we can. Twice a week I used to go to a home for the mentally challenged . But I have not gone there since March 2020. I will start going there again but I do not know when. There have been many challenges in life and we have faced them with a positive approach. Our grandson and granddaughter have made life so much more richer.

2 comments

  1. I wondered if you would know the two meanings of “nail”, but then I realised that your knowledge of English is considerably better than my knowledge of any Indian language!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you. I wanted to use the phrases hit the nail on the head and nail him/her down but at the time of writing, I was not able to use them. Languages are fascinating. In Kannada the spelling is just as we speak. Hope you and your family are keeping good health. Regards, Lakshmi

      Like

Comments are closed.