How Did This Scene Come to Be?
It certainly wasn't staged. Read the post to find out.
The events leading to this scene begin in early December when I decided to restart an old habbit, eating sunflower seeds. I had loved them as a teen -- used them to help quit smoking when I was 20, and now have gotten back to them in an attempt to hold back my cookies and ice cream passions.
Sunflower seeds cause many logistical problems, most significantly -- where to put the shells? Finish drinking that morning cup of tea -- hey, just spit those shells into the coffee mug. Kind of gross just thinking about it. And you know not every shell lands in the cup.
On Sunday we got this really cool blue mug at the Perelman Jewish Day School Torah dedication. Last night getting out of my car after work I was juggling my brief case and who knows what else-- gloves, hat--I put the mug on the Subaru roof for just for a second while I arranged other things.
I forgot the mug and its suflower shells and they spent the night together on the roof of my car.
I got into the car this morning without noticing that the mug was on the roof. I get in and start to drive away. Next I hear a loud noise. I stop the car and get out to see the mug sprawled on the ground with the shells having poured out in a lovely arcing pattern.
I was sad I wasn't driving my kids to school today because we would have had a really big laugh. (This is not the first time I've left something on the top of the car only to have it fly off -- usually to worse affect.)
But I had my camera and there wasn't any question I would photograph this scene. This is the kind of thing one might want to stage in order to get a photo -- here it happened "naturally" (yes my brain is part of nature) -- what? I'm not going to take pictures?
From you, dear reader, I am interested to know:
- How much of this story could you discern from the photo alone.
- If you know physics at all, can you describe the trajectory of the mug and how that pattern of shells was made. I only heard the sound of the mug landing, I didn't see anything flying.
- Should we learn, or avoid learning, anything from the words "Jewish Future" emblazoned and visible on the mug?
- any other wisdom you can share regarding these events.
Comments
4 comments postedAt my brother's place down in Mississippi, they got into the habit last year of slipping the end of the dog's chain over the car's antenna when both were in the carport. Until one day when - yup, you guessed it - my sister-in-law drove into town without checking to see if the dog was attached. Fortunately, she hadn't been driving very fast, and realized her mistake before she'd gone more than a quarter of a mile. The dog was very out of breath.
It's probably a good thing I don't own a car. I'd do this sort of thing all the time, I'm sure.
Just to give you some idea of my particular psychological make up, when I first saw this photo I assumed that whatever this situation was, I was responsible for it! You see, I own a blue coffee mug as well. I could not identify the sunflower shells, but I figured the coffee cup must have been my very own and I must have dropped it somewhere and left this problem behind. And now Shai had documented it for the whole blogosphere to see!
When I got over myself(no, Nancy, it is not always about you) I realized my own blue coffee cup was sitting safely in my kitchen.
So I can sleep in peace. Good night.
Nancy
I concur with David on the metaphor of seeds and the Jewish future. I would only add that the graceful arc might represent the trajectory of Jewish life that results from the seeming arbitrary "accidents" that historically befall us. What might seem to be unfortunate mishaps end up as wonderful opportunities for unexpected creativity! (Witness the great chain of thoughts initiated by Shai's post.) Any thoughts about the ominous looking stop sign peeking above the mug? Perhaps the fact it is mostly obscured suggests that nothing can truly "stop" the inevitable seeds of new life that can be planted in the most unlikely of places!!!
For those who couldn't see the "Jewish future" text, here is a close up (it gets even bigger if you click on the image).
Here is a better view of the arc (but I didn't choose it as my first choice since it didn't show much of the blue on the cup:
Thanks to Peter and Dave for stories of other absent-mindedness, to Rabs David and Brant for finding such hope in this story and to Rab Nancy for the honesty (oh how we stand in the middle of our worlds) and to Rachel for being first and finding the beauty. I appreciate all your eloquence!