As told by Maureen

Parsley Scott takes life as it comes.  Doesn't get too excited; doesn't get too worried.  Life is simple to him. Each day he does what he needs to do, then he sleeps.  He might even throw in a few naps between jobs, if there's time...

 Sometimes neighboring Pippsywoggin, Peterjon, complains to me that Parsley isn't carrying his load.  Here HE is planning and making lists about what needs to be gathered for the Pips' winter supplies, and there Parsley is curled up under a Hosta leaf taking a nap.  When I question Peterjon about Parsley's work habits, he tells me that Parsley does work really hard when he works, and he never shirks his duties But does he have to sleep so soundly when he sleeps? Couldn't he toss and worry a little like the normal Pips do?

 Parsley John lives in a little cottage which is tucked out of sight under a Peony bush.  I was mowing that part of the lawn one day when I caught sight of him at the very top of a stem, smelling the blossom.  I shut off my mower and went to talk to him for a few minutes.  (I only had a very few minutes as I had such a long list of things to do that day.) He looked so contented and at ease that I asked him what his secret was.  How did he get through his days without giving in to the stresses that come with life?

 "Well," he said, "I know what I'm good at, and when I'm doing those things I do them 100%.  And when I'm done, I'm done.  I don't keep thinking about them.  What I'm not good at, I leave to other folks, and I don't keep thinking about those things, either.  A mind needs to be kind of empty sometimes. Otherwise there isn't room for magic things, like the smell of a peony blossom, to creep in and settle."

 Well, I'm good at mowing the lawn, and when I went back to it, I did it 100%.  I would think about the rest of my list when I was done.

© 1995, 2006 by Maureen Carlson
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