“Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you’re there.
It doesn’t matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that’s like you after you take your hands away. The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said. The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime.â€
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
Sam had to read Fahrenheit 451 over the summer for his high school English class. I didn’t read along, but I did snoop into Spark notes so I could at least act like I had! Did you read the quote above from the book? Is it not so true about changing anything, really? Â The more attention you pay to your garden, your health, your children- anything you touch will be changed. Whatever project you are working on, just know that with your attention, it will make a difference. So if you died this afternoon(sorry to be so morbid), would you have made a difference?
Ray Bradbury has touched me. Â You will probably look at a pumpkin differently because of me or a bouquet of flowers. I hope so.
Let’s ponder this week on what we will leave behind. Are you the lawn-cutter or the gardener?
see you.
ML
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