Vitality Stories
Bonnie in her finery
How a snake and an apple created a perfect day
Pranks and picnics
Bonnie shares:
I remember one prank I pulled on my mother in 1945 just before my tenth birthday, and she got so upset with me I didn’t dare go near her almost a whole day.
We had a small field my dad plowed every spring so my mother could plant her garden. In this field, or parts of it, there were snake dens. They were not poisonous snakes. They were garter snakes. I used to take my dog, Rex, and we’d dig around in the mounds and when we found a den, we would open it up and dig out the snakes, and I’d tell Rex to “Sick ‘Em,” and he did. But one day we dug a den up and there were a bunch of baby snakes so I gathered a few snakes in my hand to show them to my mother.
When I’d left, she’d been hanging clothes on the line, but by the time I got there, she had gone into the house for a minute. So what I did was mix the snakes in with the wet clothes so when she pulled out a piece of clothing the snakes would fall out.
Oh, if you think I wasn’t in trouble… She screamed and hollered, and I took off like a bat out of hell. I waited two hours, and when I went to the house she met me at the door, waving her broom and yelling, “Bonnie Lou, get out of here or I’ll get you.”
I did what any smart girl would do. I got out of there. Again.
Boy, I was hungry, but I didn’t go home. I went out in the woods where we had wild apple trees. I picked a nice big apple. We also had wild grape vines so I picked a bunch, and Rex and I sat down and had a picnic.
The prank definitely didn’t go over well with my mother. In fact, she never forgot it. Every so often we’d talk about it. She laughed about it in the end, but she sure didn’t laugh in the beginning.
~ Bonnie
Bonnie in her play & work clothes
What I learned
Bonnie reminds me how children have an innate ability to live spontaneously and embrace life in the moment. THE NOW. She saw an opportunity for a laugh, and acted. When the joke backfired, she ended up basking in the sun with fresh food and a favorite pet in an apple orchard. Kind of sounds like a perfect day to me!
Ever since my trip to Tokyo, I’ve been practicing mindfulness. I want to seize the day in all of its glory and this is why this particular story of Bonnie’s stood out for me. I’m wondering what age we begin to lose sight of existing in the moment and become focused on what’s ahead. I’m sure there is a healthy balance of living and planning to be found. I’m working on it.
How do you remind yourself to be mindful or live in the now? Or what was your last spontaneous action and how did it turn out? Feel free to email me.
As always, I’m grateful for your time and input. Have a wonderful week and thank you for being you.
Teri
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