Member-only story
Almost every day on the road past my little garden, a man walks by with a baby carriage. At the end of the road, he turns around and walks back. Going somewhere. It’s like that almost every day.
As a curious person, you would like to ask, “Why do you walk with a stroller every day?” I don’t want to be nosy and disturb the man’s concentrated walk. Could it be a sick baby? Can’t the baby sleep if he doesn’t walk? Is his wife sick and should it be quiet at home? And more questions that come to mind that may be totally irrelevant.
Every person in a society has his or her own concerns and problems, which cannot be seen on the outside. Behind the door of each house there are things going on that we may prefer not to know about.
It is very busy with airplane traffic towards Schiphol Airport. My thoughts are almost pushed away by the noise. When the wind turns it is, fortunately, quieter again.
The man with the stroller passes by again. He walks at a slow pace, probably so as not to wake the baby.
Other people’s problems and worries are hard to fathom. Maybe if we knew, we could help each other better? Would that make sense?
The sun caresses my face and my little garden. I take a walk to my studio. I need to take inventory of which paint tubes are empty and then make a purchasing list. I am also working on enlarging my drawings and then rendering them with acrylic paint.
Perhaps the man with the baby carriage could perhaps be a metaphor of how the Gods push the world forward in a baby carriage. With the hope that the world remains peaceful and quiet. Far away from the evil Gods. The wind plays with the leaves and tries to whisper in the ear of the good Gods. What would happen if the God who pushes the world in a baby carriage stopped? Would the world then wake up and start crying and screaming terribly? Could the whisper of the wind in the ear of the pushing God be: “Hold on, hold on!” There is still hope! Hope for a wonderful future of the world!
The God and the man saunter on, but cannot survey the long-term effect of their action. Is the baby carriage strong enough to carry the heaviness of the world long enough?
