Today I saved a dragonfly's life. And I named him Danny.
But I'm getting ahead of myself, already.
Last night I delivered to a most lovely lady in a trailer park. It was a large order. Her adorable daughter (who appeared to be 4 or 5 yrs old) looked on as her mom and I greeted each other and I started handing her the food. I said hi to the little girl and asked her how she was doing and if she was ready for some pizza. She didn't answer. She just looked at me sort of sheepishly then hid behind her mom's leg and peeked around at me. The quietest and shortest game of Peek-a-Boo I've ever played! I didn't press the little girl to speak, because being an introvert myself, I know it's not good to try and force a person to speak that doesn't want to. They have their reasons, you know. I've delivered to this residence a few times before, so I already knew they were a kind an loving family. I'd never seen the young girl before though. Normally, who I assume is her older sister, answers the door and helps the mom. And the mom chastises them if they take too long to answer the door, lol. In a gentle way, though.
So finally we confirm they have all their food and the mom hands me the money. I didn't bother counting the money (it feels rude to me to count it in front of the customer to me), knowing the lady is always nice and that she'd never short me intentionally. I smiled, thanked the mom, and asked, "Do you need any change?"
The nice lady smiled back and said, "Oh no, Honey, change comes from within. That's for you!" I thanked her again and smiled and waved at the little girl once more before going back to my car. The little girl came out from behind her mom's leg finally and watched me, but didn't wave back. It felt nice getting back into my car. My heart was warmed, and I had a peaceful smile on my face as I drove off.
And now we get to today. Lunchtime at work. And how I saved a dragonfly's life.
I had a few minutes before a delivery I was waiting on was done, so I decided to go out to the back alley and break down some boxes for the recycle bin...instead of standing around in the kitchen and inviting unwanted attention from my boss. It was a great choice, because otherwise I would never have met Danny the Dragonfly. I'm not sure if the dragonfly was ever called Danny before I named him that, and he never told me either way. And I'm not sure exactly why I decided to call him that. It just sort of came to me, and rolled off my tongue...so to speak. It may have been because I had been listening to the audio book version of John Steinbeck's "Tortilla Flat" recently, but I'm not sure about that either. But he felt like a Danny to me, and so that's what he became to me. For me.
Danny was inside one of the boxes I was about to break down for the recycle bin. On the edge, not moving. I thought at first he was dead. I'm so glad I saw him before I squashed the box (and him along with it!) I looked at him more closely, but I hadn't thought to name him yet. He was a beautiful combination of black and yellow, and a bit small I thought, for a dragonfly. But not tiny. Just smallish. I touched his body gently with my finger and he still didn't flinch in the least. That's why I thought he was dead. But he didn't quite "feel" dead to me, if you know what I mean. I knew that I needed to move him out of the box so I could crush it, but I had the feeling I shouldn't try and grab him by the wings--in the event he was still alive and I might damage them. So I tore off a little piece of paper from my pocket and sort of scooped him off of the edge of the box. It worked perfectly. He slid perfectly onto the paper--still didn't move or flinch in the least. But as I went to transfer him safely to the top of the recycle bin, he buzzed his wings a few times. Subtly. I could feel and hear their vibration. He was still alive! Beautiful beautiful!
Then I slid him off the piece of paper onto the top of the recycle bin, and that's when I decided I would call him Danny. Yes, Danny just needed some rest, that's all. But he stopped buzzing his wings again, and remained motionless. I went back to breaking down boxes, but kept my eyes on Danny as I did so. I stopped breaking down boxes after another minute or so and decided to look more closely at Danny. I massaged his fuzzy little back so gently, careful not to disturb his wings. Still he didn't move. I got my face close to his as I continued to stroke his back. No movement at all. I assured Danny the Dragonfly that it was going to be okay. But deep down, I felt his time had just come. And I was very honored to have been there to be with him as he crossed over. It was a blessing to know that I was the last thing Danny the Dragonfly would see in this world. A small honor or none at all to many, but a tremendous honor to an odd person like myself. I almost walked away to break down more boxes and decide on what I should do with Danny's little fuzzy corpse.
Then something I can't explain emerged from my heart. I remembered that we were put on this earth to Love and to heal with the gifts we've been given. I felt as though my heart was chastising me for giving up so easily; that it's a shame we forget the power we have within us to heal. And so I decided I wasn't going to give up on Danny. Not now. No. I imagined my heart sending him loving and warm energy. And I stroked his fuzzy back once more. He moved!!! Just a tiny bit. And he didn't buzz his wings. He just stood up on his skinny little legs, and held himself up on his own power. Or, as I like to believe, the power of Love. Oh how tall he stood! I smiled gratefully and told Danny the Dragonfly how proud of him I was that he didn't give up. My heart told me to place my hand, palm down, in front of him and extend my index finger. Very slowly, Danny took a few steps forward and stepped up onto my finger. But he was still very weak. He was only able to get his front legs up on top of my finger, so that his head rested right above it. That's as far as he went. And then he started turning his head..and he lifted up his front legs and started sort of wiping them above his eyes. It was so adorable. It reminded me very much of my cat when she cleans her own face. That's it!!! Danny the Dragonfly was taking a little bath, cleaning himself! That's how it felt to me. So very adorable! Turning his little head side to side and cleaning it with his tiny legs. I was frozen in time for that moment, just enjoying the magic of Love and life that surrounds us everywhere. If only we take the time to recognize it. Then Danny finally stepped all the way up onto my finger and looked straight at me. I'm not sure he was thinking or speaking anything at all, but I like to imagine he was thanking me. And I thanked HIM! And suddenly Danny jumped up off my finger, buzzed his wings, and disappeared into the trees. I watched him fly off until he was out of my sight, and I wished him well. Life is truly beautiful beautiful! I hope you all see that every day.
A lot of you know how much I enjoy using my imagination to color things, but I assure you the events I wrote in this chapter happened exactly as I experienced them in real life. The Sacred Garden stories I write on the other blog are highly embellished, often completely fictitious. Not here. The point of this blog is to share my real life as I experience it. Reality can be beautiful too, so long as we choose it to be. Even when it doesn't always give us what we want.
Change comes from within, Honey!
Gratitude.
I love you.
#PizzaDudeSez
XX
But I'm getting ahead of myself, already.
Last night I delivered to a most lovely lady in a trailer park. It was a large order. Her adorable daughter (who appeared to be 4 or 5 yrs old) looked on as her mom and I greeted each other and I started handing her the food. I said hi to the little girl and asked her how she was doing and if she was ready for some pizza. She didn't answer. She just looked at me sort of sheepishly then hid behind her mom's leg and peeked around at me. The quietest and shortest game of Peek-a-Boo I've ever played! I didn't press the little girl to speak, because being an introvert myself, I know it's not good to try and force a person to speak that doesn't want to. They have their reasons, you know. I've delivered to this residence a few times before, so I already knew they were a kind an loving family. I'd never seen the young girl before though. Normally, who I assume is her older sister, answers the door and helps the mom. And the mom chastises them if they take too long to answer the door, lol. In a gentle way, though.
So finally we confirm they have all their food and the mom hands me the money. I didn't bother counting the money (it feels rude to me to count it in front of the customer to me), knowing the lady is always nice and that she'd never short me intentionally. I smiled, thanked the mom, and asked, "Do you need any change?"
The nice lady smiled back and said, "Oh no, Honey, change comes from within. That's for you!" I thanked her again and smiled and waved at the little girl once more before going back to my car. The little girl came out from behind her mom's leg finally and watched me, but didn't wave back. It felt nice getting back into my car. My heart was warmed, and I had a peaceful smile on my face as I drove off.
And now we get to today. Lunchtime at work. And how I saved a dragonfly's life.
I had a few minutes before a delivery I was waiting on was done, so I decided to go out to the back alley and break down some boxes for the recycle bin...instead of standing around in the kitchen and inviting unwanted attention from my boss. It was a great choice, because otherwise I would never have met Danny the Dragonfly. I'm not sure if the dragonfly was ever called Danny before I named him that, and he never told me either way. And I'm not sure exactly why I decided to call him that. It just sort of came to me, and rolled off my tongue...so to speak. It may have been because I had been listening to the audio book version of John Steinbeck's "Tortilla Flat" recently, but I'm not sure about that either. But he felt like a Danny to me, and so that's what he became to me. For me.
Danny was inside one of the boxes I was about to break down for the recycle bin. On the edge, not moving. I thought at first he was dead. I'm so glad I saw him before I squashed the box (and him along with it!) I looked at him more closely, but I hadn't thought to name him yet. He was a beautiful combination of black and yellow, and a bit small I thought, for a dragonfly. But not tiny. Just smallish. I touched his body gently with my finger and he still didn't flinch in the least. That's why I thought he was dead. But he didn't quite "feel" dead to me, if you know what I mean. I knew that I needed to move him out of the box so I could crush it, but I had the feeling I shouldn't try and grab him by the wings--in the event he was still alive and I might damage them. So I tore off a little piece of paper from my pocket and sort of scooped him off of the edge of the box. It worked perfectly. He slid perfectly onto the paper--still didn't move or flinch in the least. But as I went to transfer him safely to the top of the recycle bin, he buzzed his wings a few times. Subtly. I could feel and hear their vibration. He was still alive! Beautiful beautiful!
Then I slid him off the piece of paper onto the top of the recycle bin, and that's when I decided I would call him Danny. Yes, Danny just needed some rest, that's all. But he stopped buzzing his wings again, and remained motionless. I went back to breaking down boxes, but kept my eyes on Danny as I did so. I stopped breaking down boxes after another minute or so and decided to look more closely at Danny. I massaged his fuzzy little back so gently, careful not to disturb his wings. Still he didn't move. I got my face close to his as I continued to stroke his back. No movement at all. I assured Danny the Dragonfly that it was going to be okay. But deep down, I felt his time had just come. And I was very honored to have been there to be with him as he crossed over. It was a blessing to know that I was the last thing Danny the Dragonfly would see in this world. A small honor or none at all to many, but a tremendous honor to an odd person like myself. I almost walked away to break down more boxes and decide on what I should do with Danny's little fuzzy corpse.
Then something I can't explain emerged from my heart. I remembered that we were put on this earth to Love and to heal with the gifts we've been given. I felt as though my heart was chastising me for giving up so easily; that it's a shame we forget the power we have within us to heal. And so I decided I wasn't going to give up on Danny. Not now. No. I imagined my heart sending him loving and warm energy. And I stroked his fuzzy back once more. He moved!!! Just a tiny bit. And he didn't buzz his wings. He just stood up on his skinny little legs, and held himself up on his own power. Or, as I like to believe, the power of Love. Oh how tall he stood! I smiled gratefully and told Danny the Dragonfly how proud of him I was that he didn't give up. My heart told me to place my hand, palm down, in front of him and extend my index finger. Very slowly, Danny took a few steps forward and stepped up onto my finger. But he was still very weak. He was only able to get his front legs up on top of my finger, so that his head rested right above it. That's as far as he went. And then he started turning his head..and he lifted up his front legs and started sort of wiping them above his eyes. It was so adorable. It reminded me very much of my cat when she cleans her own face. That's it!!! Danny the Dragonfly was taking a little bath, cleaning himself! That's how it felt to me. So very adorable! Turning his little head side to side and cleaning it with his tiny legs. I was frozen in time for that moment, just enjoying the magic of Love and life that surrounds us everywhere. If only we take the time to recognize it. Then Danny finally stepped all the way up onto my finger and looked straight at me. I'm not sure he was thinking or speaking anything at all, but I like to imagine he was thanking me. And I thanked HIM! And suddenly Danny jumped up off my finger, buzzed his wings, and disappeared into the trees. I watched him fly off until he was out of my sight, and I wished him well. Life is truly beautiful beautiful! I hope you all see that every day.
A lot of you know how much I enjoy using my imagination to color things, but I assure you the events I wrote in this chapter happened exactly as I experienced them in real life. The Sacred Garden stories I write on the other blog are highly embellished, often completely fictitious. Not here. The point of this blog is to share my real life as I experience it. Reality can be beautiful too, so long as we choose it to be. Even when it doesn't always give us what we want.
Change comes from within, Honey!
Gratitude.
I love you.
#PizzaDudeSez
XX
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