Works in progress

One last bikeride to say goodbye to the herons and dolphins, jellyfish and alligators. Then all those glorious creatures will just be memories. Hello responsibilities. Goodbye vacation. One of the first things I have to do is get a new watch. My so called waterproof timex appears to be leaking or crying.

I noticed a strange small black mark on the watch dial as I headed off on my bike yesterday. I thought little of it and quickly was lost in ocean sounds and sights.

I stopped to chat with a couple sitting beside the Great Pyramids beautifully recreated in sand.
"Did you make those?" I asked.
"My dad did," the woman told me,"He used to be a brick mason. "
The woman looked to be my age. Her dad had to be at least 75 or so. The three sand pyramids were huge and meticulously crafted. While not as mind boggling to create as the real pyramids it was still more than most 70 year olds would tackle.
There was a little sign by the pyramids- "Work in progress- please don't touch."
"What more does he plan to do?" I asked. To me all that it looked like they needed was a mummified Pharoah.
"I'm not sure," she answered,"I think he wants to find a way to make the Sphinx."
I took a photo and biked on. I liked the image of an old man so lovingly forming something so impermanent with such care. And even though the pyramids looked perfect to me, to him they were still works in progress.

By the end of the bikeride, the black spot on my watch dial had grown and the numbers were fading away.

I hoped it was condensation, and considered the old man's pyramid. I keep thinking I have mastered some aspect of living, finally am getting it right, but then fail and realize I am one continual work in progress too. Maybe we should all hang signs around our necks- "Be patient - work in progress."

This morning, the black spot on the watch face has again grown but the strangest drip of black curls like a tendril down the middle and attached to it is a blot that looks eerily like an alligator. The watch is no longer of any use to tell time and maybe that is exactly the kind of watch God wants me to have. Maybe the work in progress is going to take a very long time and it is best that I not have the means to see exactly how long. But I hope the black alligator splot becomes a heron next.

2 Peter 3:14-15
So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. [15] Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.


- Nothing is impossible with God
- hollowcreekfarm.org