Monday, May 28, 2007

one knife

there is something about finding delight once again. i didn't realize how delightful life could be until i slowed down and began to understand and take notice of the surrounding life burying itself deep within my pores.

you see, we have one knife. in the mornings when we arise, we run to the local market for some calcium enriched soy milk, make our way back to the room, wash some mangoes, rambutan, lychee and oranges. we sit together outside on our porch. while one peels and cuts the mangoes the other sits, waits, laughs and enjoys. the one holding the knife who has committed themselves to mango mutilation pokes piece by piece and we feed eachother. i know that sounds silly, but i wonder what life would be like if we had two knives and were able to peel, cut and eat our mangoes independently.

after five months of hibernation we brought out our mini-ipod that my dad gave us as a going away gift (a free promo gift he received from krogers). yesterday we laid in bed together, listening to damien jurado, love drug, U2, neutral milk hotel, etc. together. with one ear phone in my left ear and the other in his left we shared our afternoon together, sang together, danced together (although this took some tricky agility) and smiled. i wonder what life would have been like yesterday afternoon if we had a t.v. to watch or even two ipods to listen to.

we have one small room that is matted with tiles from ceiling to floor. much different from a "western" bathroom, everything is open. there are no walls or curtains to separate the toilet from the sink or the shower. all is open. well, the lice are still taking up residence in my (now blond - different story) hair. truth be told, i let it go for too long without maintenance and the babies got bigger and the bigger laid eggs and the eggs became babies and the cycle continued. well, three nights ago as i was taking a shower i decided something needed to be done about it. at that time jake came in and i shared with him my bug issues. together, no separated by walls or curtains we pulled out our only comb and began the process. i then took the lice killer comb and followed his tracks picking those heathens out one by one. with two combs we stood in our open bathroom for an hour picking bugs out of my hair and being amazed at how many and how big they are. i wonder how that night would have been had we had walls and curtains to separate us from what we were doing/trying to do.

most days we are without an engine-run mode of transportation (unlike today we which rented a 125 honda and toke a ride up into the mountains to hike throughout the waterfalls, yeah.) therefore, our primary way of going from one place to another is on foot. the days when we rent a bike there is always a part of me that misses walking. passing by hundreds of food and junk carts at a time with jake's right index finder interlaced in my left hand pinkie. we talk (with feeble results) with various vendors, pet hedgehogs and rabbits, play with little children and discover spider-webs and flowers. i sometimes wonder what life would be like if we had a car to take us everywhere we thought we wanted to go and missed all the discoveries woven throughout the side streets, alleys and people along the way.

we have one knife right now. it brings me delight.

9 comments:

cory said...

i love you both!

Anonymous said...

Isn't there something about "two becoming one"?? Now I understand.

Many "thank you's" for sharing your one knife!

Indian Lake Papa

Anonymous said...

One knife...sounds like we could all do with less and then we'd appreciate what we had so much more even if what we had was just each other and a knife. Thank you for being you Jessica and for sharing your knife with us :)

Love ya,

Robin

Lauren said...

Beautiful.

Thank you for the sharing the beauty of your marriage with us.

Anonymous said...

beautiful.


Isaac says: When is the silly Jessica coming to our house?
I need a word, in whicever language you prefer, that means Aunt/Uncle that we can label you with because the confusion with my brother Jake and his Jessica is getting to be a little much.

Alissa said...

Amazing....Thank you for sharing your marriage and your "knife" with us. You are truly an inspiration to others. Enjoy yourselves.

Anonymous said...

It's always a treat to read an update from you and to learn from your open hearts about life and love.

Mr. Blair said...

i really like this post.

Grant said...

Well, I'm getting married in... 9 days to a beautiful, beautiful woman, and seeing you two live life differently makes my heart ache to live life the "other way" that you two have a grasp of, at least. I'm trying to say this: you inspire me/us. We love reading your posts when we're getting "bogged down" in stresses and life. Someday, we'll come find you wherever you are and live life with you for a time. That's a statement that I hope you'll hold me to.

Love and peace,
Grant