About Me

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Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

The Buzzard, Bat and Bumblebee

If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6'X8' and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10-12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkably nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and painfully until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but will persist in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists until it completely destroys itself.

In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look up. Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, but faith looks up. Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly and trust in our creator who loves us.

11 comments:

Janice Thomson said...

Excellent, excellent advice Leslie.

Being the nature lover I am I was shocked I did not know any of that!
How absolutely fascinating. Thanks for the great info.

JR's Thumbprints said...

...and don't forget that prisoners are like a bucket of crabs -- if one tries to climb out, the others will surely bring him down.

Ruth L.~ said...

Fascinating, both for the nature and for the human application. Where did you get that info?

Leslie: said...

Aha, we teachers never reveal our source! lol

Jo said...

Leslie, it's so true, isn't it? We remain trapped in the little cages of our own making. Maybe we're more like the creatures in nature than we realize.

Mrs. Geezerette said...

Leslie, I had no idea that these creatures could be imprisoned when there is a way out and then die if not rescued. I suppose in the evolutionary process, these creatures became so highly specialized that they are incapable of behaving any other way in these instances. Not so with human beings. We can behave in other ways, if we put our mind to it, and get free of our pain and misery. Great metaphor.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Smalltown RN said...

life and it reflects back at us....very powerful Leslie...yes sometimes it is hard to look up....

Anonymous said...

Omigod,

Is that what's wrong with me!

I am in a box!

Ivab

Leslie: said...

Ivan, I guess you're a "buzzbat bum" - heh heh

the walking man said...

I have a chair I sit in during the day, it's on my porch. yesterday the old lady came in and asked if I farted while I was sitting outside. she then told me there was a dead bee on my chair.

So it's not just an open top glass that can kill a bee.

peace

mark

Leslie: said...

Thanks for making me laugh so early in the day, Mark!