A life's Calling

So, I living a small town. A small town where my father writes for the newspaper. A small town where my father also talks to every garden club or any other club for that matter that is in existence... a small town where everybody knows everybody. A small town where my parents "accidently" didnt put their number into the phonebook ( that's right, the excuse about "it being taken out while they lived in the hotel" doesnt stick anymore...because that was WELL over a year ago...and a new phonebook JUST came out and GUESS who was the ONLY "Abt" in the book?!).

Because of these and many more facts I get messages on my answering machine. I get phone calls at 7 in the morning. I get phone calls at 5 in the evening. To be honest I get more phonecalls for my father than I do for myself.

And it's annoying.

But, tonight I had to step back and be thankful for the things that my father does a splendid job of preserving in this town. There is something about stopping and listening to someone's stories ( which is what I get to do at my job), or sharing in the beauty of nature ( which is what Papa speaks about continually) that is truly a blessing. And tonight when that little old lady called to "speak to Jeff Abt" because she had a "whole field of flowers back behind her house that she thought he might like to see" and then she went on to quote a Wordsworth poem to me that the flowers had inspired her to remember....to be honest, when this conversation happened I was annoyed. I had had to stop what I was doing and RUN to catch the phone and then it was about some ladies FLOWERS...and she took for AGES quoting poetry to me! GEEEZ.

However, just now I was reading some of my book on 17th century poets...and I was thinking....to be a part of that little old ladies day, to share in her inspiration on beauty and what beauty had meant to her. That is far more important. In a world of cell phones and emails and reality tv...and new episodes of Lost...and Fox news....and all the other things that are, well, let's face it "unbeautiful"...I am grateful for a generation that is fast departing from this world...a generation that still quotes Wordsworth and Coleridge...a generation who tells rambly stories to me on the phone about "when they were in high school"....a generation that wore hats to church ( and gloves)...who faught for this country and freedom-in a much "simpler" time.

So, I am glad for the phonecalls, I am glad for the interruptions at work...because I think it makes my life a little bit more meaningful. I just hope I can hold on to it all....because I think everyone's life deserves to be remembered and cherished in some way.

Just not at 7am when I'm trying to hold onto sleep. No. That's a bad time for LIfe to call...