If I had forever

I am so busy this morning. If I am to write what I know I’ll

Stuart Services plumber [was] at the door.
No time to engage and drop down today.
Wait—what did Anna tell me in Thailand?
It isn’t the lifelong retreats that we need to master. Impasse. It’s the one-minute centering we need. Hugging the space where there is a tree, breathe.

I remember flailing in my hug-a-tree stance, hot tears welling up. “How do people do this?” I asked her. Lovingly she said “They don’t. Most people never try to be still, or present. Here we are.” It helped.

If I had one minute, or only 2 or 3— Could I be with you? Could I sink in?

“All right” the plumber is saying on his cell phone, talking as he crosses my street. The crows. The car door slamming. The leaves skating across the driveway.

How can plumbers be so kind? He could have done anything with his life, but here he is helping me.