Meditating in the Mud

It is an amazing thing that happens when earth and water mix.  I can remember as a young girl we would play on the beach on Long Island and the mixture of sand and water was wonderful.  The sand castles were glorious.  But now I live in Belize, up in the Maya Mountains on the edge of the rain forest.  Earth and water are a whole new story. There is this substance that is called “mud” in simple terms.  But there is nothing simple about the mud around here.  This mud has a mind of it’s own.  When you step into the dark, shiny stuff, you begin to feel a kind of slippery sensation.  Soon you realize that you cannot bring your foot up without releasing you shoe.  We are generally wearing slippers (flip flops).  As you begin to lift your foot, you feel the top pieces of your slipper stretching.  If you have been quick enough, the bottom of the slipper will suddenly let out a gasp and the footwear will slap up in the air with bits of this mud spraying all about.  Most of it will end up on your unsuspecting legs.  However, most likely there will be no release.  At least not without some sort of casualty.  A slipper left behind, part of a slipper left behind or maybe just a royal plop of your own behind.  Anyway, it is usually not pretty.  Perhaps the one advantage is that the mud that has accumulated on the bottom of your shoe or slipper can add inches to your height!

So, as I am standing at the lower gate, waiting for Ron and Melvin to chase the horse in (he escaped through the hurricane damaged fence this morning), I am reflecting on the mud beneath my feet.  My sandal is stuck and I am a little wary of slipping at just the most inappropriate moment.  I can see all the bugs that are freely hovering about the mud.  They have left their own imprints on my legs to be enjoyed at a later time (I will be itching all night).  I can also see where the bus slid along the edge of the driveway and just missed the gate.  On the other side of the fence is something, I am really not sure what, that has been sitting in the mud for days.  It might be a bottle, or a plastic cup, or who knows what.  Anyway, it is being preserved because there is no way that it can be extricated from the mire at this point.  Well, here comes the horse, I believe it is Beans.  He seems happy enough to be coming in the  gate.  As he makes the turn I am ready to close the gate behind him.  He decides now would be the time to move a little quicker, but I didn’t warn him about the mud.  Oops, he is slipping, oops, I am stuck!  He recovers.  I sigh a big relieved sigh, but I am still stuck!

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