What the Sidewalk Oracle Taught Me Today
Every day I walk my neighborhood and almost every day a sidewalk oracle appears. Today it was the bottlebrush.
Although the bottlebrush is indigenous to Australia, it’s quite at home here in San Diego. In fact, many trees and plants from around the world thrive in this climate, including Eucalyptus, Lavender, Rosemary, and just about any herb you can think of.
But ethnobotany isn’t what I wanted to talk about. Rather, I’d like to talk about the difference in how a thing looks and how a thing is. This is akin to my Under the Moon Tarot Spread. Moonlight shows us one thing, sunlight another. Same with the bottlebrush.
Although the beautiful red blooms looks spiky and painful – like the thorny rose – bottlebrush are soft and fluffy. I have a habit on my daily walks, to run my hands through whatever plant happens to be at waist level. There are a lot of grasses here and – honestly – they feel great to touch.
One day I saw a bottlebrush that was within reach. Without thinking, I reached out and let the bloom slide through my hand. Yes, I could have ended up with a handful of spikes, but instead it was like petting kitten fur. Now whenever I see one I reach out just to say hello.
So what’s the Sidewalk Oracle’s message? Some things – and people – can often look far more threatening than they really are. Something to think about.
