elusive green





WOLFGANG MIEDER calls the phrase “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" AN AMERICAN PROVERB OF DISCONTENT.

Lately I have been trying to figure out if the color green really does exist. Or, more accurately, is green a color I can actually grasp!

I am sitting in a 5 x 7 grey office cubicle in rural East Texas. The temperature is reaching the mid 90’s these days and the humidity is pore-cleansing high. Earlier I walked across the lawn from my office building to get a cup of coffee in the cafe. This week’s special latte is called “Soft Jolt.” The grass under my feet was getting to that crunchy green/brown stage from the hot beating sun and too little rain.

I have friends all over the world.

My friends in the Sudan write amazing journal entries and post photos of beautiful smiling people dressed in vivid Technicolor garments, walking across the smooth tan desert. Desert as far as the eye can see. Their thermometer in the Sudan this week said 144 degrees in the sun! But it still looks “greener” over there to me.

I have friends onboard a ship that is sailing off the coast of West Africa as I write this. The crew of over 300 will have an Equator Crossing Party tonight and celebrate, together, this momentous occasion. They are also on sailing-imposed water restrictions, including lukewarm 2 minute showers, no laundry, and won't be able to step foot on solid ground for almost 2 weeks! But it still looks “greener” onboard that ship to me.

• I worked in a hospital laboratory for over 10 years and thought it looked "greener" to have a desk job with paper clips, and a matching tape dispenser and stapler.
• I am single and sometimes think it looks “greener” to be married.
• I am a career volunteer and literally live off of the generous hearts of those who support me financially…but the regular paycheck I used to take for granted looks “greener” to me sometimes.
• I don’t have a house, but when I visit my friends’ homes with Fiesta Ware dinner plates and scented candles on the mantle; it looks “greener” to me to have a place of my own.

I like what Wolfgang Mieder goes on to say about “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence:”

“A scientific scholar proves that optical and perceptual laws alone will make the grass at a distance look greener to the human eye than the blades of grass perpendicular to the ground. The "truth" of this metaphorical proverb can, of course, also be observed often enough in the countryside when a cow or a horse is trying to get at that juicy green grass just on the other side of the fence. And since people are equally dissatisfied with their lot in life, it should not surprise anyone that a modern psychologist has spoken of "the 'greener grass' phenomenon" by which modern individuals continually evaluate supposedly better alternatives for themselves.”

Paper clips, desert simplicity, adventures at sea, regular paychecks, Fiesta Ware…all would likely slip through my fingers if I tried to grasp them for myself just because they seem “greener.” I want to contentedly eat the grass on MY side of the fence, until it is time for a Sovereign change of pasture.

I think I need another Soft Jolt...