King of the Moment ? Tying Molecular Knots

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desart. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
?My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!?
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

I still want to finish my story I started a few weeks ago. I haven?t gotten back to the writing because life is a very busy thing?even with three of the children at school during the day. During the day, I try to soak up as much time with my youngest as possible. Lots of cuddles and parent-tot times and blowing bubbles and playing silly games and wandering in nature (when it?s not too miserably hot). ?And chores. Then everyone comes home and there is tutoring to be supplied, food to prepare, papers to be signed, and all the rest. Life is busy.

The passage of time is easy to note when you are a parent, especially when one of your children is not-so-slowly overtaking your height, but you still remember him the size of his youngest brother. Tow-headed, tiny, wide-eyed, and bouncing into the room five-a.m. every summer morning shouting, ?Sun is up for you Mommy!? and ?Good morning hugs!?

Three more years and he will be driving, and the other tow-headed cherub will be school-aged?declaring, no, I can do that myself and don?t call me baby.

Then not too far away, they will all be grown and, hopefully, there will be new little cherubs and they will let me play with them sometimes.

The whole journey of life goes by in a sigh and a blink.

My husband?s grandmother, from whom we rent the property, is dying.

Death, as I?ve observed over the last decade or so, does ugly things to families. There is a surreal quality to the process. The pretty coat of paint and the nice clothes of human life become threadbare. We can see through to the skin and the nakedness of life underneath.

All the Sins and the Sorrows come for a visit when Death is near. ?As a result, I believe it is best to be acquainted with as few as possible. Or at least, leave them with no forwarding address and fail to notify them of Death?s impending arrival. Death itself isn?t as scary as living through their visit. Sins and Sorrows show no mercy.

My parents were older and so my family was older when I was young. I played in graveyards while my grandfather tended to the graves of loved ones?keeping them tidy and appreciated. I routinely scandalized my mother by coming home with flowers I picked. My grandfather assured her that no one in the graveyard complained.

In my mind, the best thing to do is die while you are living and present of mind?long before physical death arrives. Die to material desires and die to?things of passing importance. Die to the world and to the self?in a sense.

Write your living will with your actions every day. Treat all the people around you as your survivors and heirs-apparent.

I?m not doing as well as I would like, but this is what I?m aiming for in the long run. I don?t want to do all my dying at once and hurriedly. And I?m hoping to have it completed sometime after the children are grown but before any of the children do it. That is my ideal time frame. God willing, this is the time frame I will have.

To me, that?s the important stuff. If I can get these details right?I will consider this journey a success.

All the money, statues, fancy homes, nice cars, antiques, trips around the world and material junk of life means very little. If anything, those items stand with the Sins and the Sorrows and mock a person on their death bed.

It?s good to remember Ozymandias, and that we are only Kings of the Moment.

Source: http://knotane.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/king-of-the-moment/

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