EPILOGUE

 

 

 

Salvador pretended not to notice the procession of mice led by Jid Wendel and Jida Pip that arrived that chilly morning in December. They were, after all, field mice and very small. He was aware, but unconcerned, that access to the old barn was conspicuous—Salvador made sure of that. He knew they would return to the outdoors as soon as the weather warmed. “So,” he said to himself as he shrugged, “a quien le importa?”

During the colder evenings, Salvador built a small fire in the firepit behind his house and brought fruit with him to share with Mr. Leach. Both the mice and Nathaniel and Birgit could hear the sounds of a one-way conversation that Salvador had as he shared his fruit with Mr. Leach.

As for Nathaniel and Birgit, their life looked very much as it had before Nathaniel was disabled by his melancholy ruminations around growing old. A closer look at their household revealed that some things had changed quite a bit. Nathaniel had become more mindful of the depth of affection he had for Birgit. This was very much a function of engaging and extracting. He had known but never fully appreciated the fact that Birgit, as he would say, “was always the truth teller, just like Mr. Leach, who never hesitated to act when the need was evident.” Nathaniel appreciated her capacity to understand how offering care to competing factions appeared easy for her. Nathaniel told his children and grandchildren and his great-grandchildren and their children that Birgit had an “eagle eye” for designing solutions that satisfied the needs of even the most divided communities, big and small. “She’s a win-win girl!” he bragged.

Indeed, it was Birgit who had privately counseled Wendel to consider the wisdom of shared leadership with Pip, since their gifts and skills of a keen intellect and a perceptive heart were complementary and greater than what either could do alone.

Perhaps what had changed most about Nathaniel was how he regarded the world. “The world,” he would tell others, “is full of secrets it longs to share.” Instead of regarding age and a dwindling supply of time as his enemy, he learned a loss of curiosity was the real enemy. Time, he thought, was his friend and a precious commodity. Nathaniel found he was energized by engagements. It was relentless curiosity that led to new insights and stimulation. He visited the mice occasionally but was also busy with his own family, who he found he was quite fond of, somewhat to his surprise. Another discovery for Nathaniel was finally grasping the reality that everyone has a path to walk that is uniquely shaped by who they are and what they must learn. You cannot borrow or commandeer another’s path. Your own is always waiting for you.

Lastly, each day, Nathaniel held out a time for what he called “musement.” He practiced musement while walking, sometimes while eating, while watching his great-grandchildren, while doing almost anything. Musement, he decided, was simply the act of curiously considering something and wondering what secrets it bore and longed to give up. It might be a thought he pondered. It might be an object or a subject he encountered. Musement was the act of training all your senses and intuition to be attuned to the world. It was a matter of recultivating or never forsaking the childlike curiosity that comprises wonder and drives questions that beg for answers. It was engagement at play. The world, as Mr. Leach had taught, was ready to teach him all of the greatest lessons of life if he was prepared to do his part in engaging and extracting. Nathaniel was quite content to view the world this way and reached deep inside himself for one more song.

 

I’m feeling contentment.

I guess I’ve paid my dues.

No living with resentment,

’cause I banished these old blues.

Yes, I banished these blues.

Mean and nasty blues.

Be rid of your blues.

You’ve got nothin’ left to lose.

These vanishing blues.

 

Everything remains a mystery

until you are engaged.

Open up, hear their history,

even if you have to beg.

And you’ll banish your blues.

Banish your blues.

Be rid of your blues.

You’ve got nothin’ left to lose.

These vanishing blues.

 

Once you have engaged, my friend,

then now you must extract.

The fruits are worth what you will spend,

’cause the blues ain’t comin’ back.

Because you banished your blues.

Those dark and oily blues.

 

This work that you choose

means you will only lose

these vanishing blues.