The trees teach patience

While axing off the waste from the bottom of a promising bowl, I made the mistake of levering with the axe more than I should have.

I was rushing.

To be truthful, I had rushed the whole bowl.  I had stolen an hour from a busy day, and there would be hell to pay if it did not get back to the chores.  As Thoreau put it, I had crept away from the family, "to spend borrowed or stolen time, robbing your creditors of an hour." As a result, i did not remove as much as I normally do from the base core, so there was a lot to axe off at the end.  

I suppose I could have glued the base back on.  Few if any would have noticed.  But I decided to leave it alone, to smooth up the jagged edges and put it into circulation in my own house-- an ode to patience.  

"Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience.  Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence."

--Hal Borland