SATURDAY MEMORY

March 22, 2025

Many years ago, I was having lunch with Laurens van der Post during his visit to Los Angeles. We were at the Santa Monica Hotel in Santa Monica, California. I do not remember the year, but it was before he was knighted. We talked of many things during that lunch, but one thing stood out in my memory this week. I had asked him what was the most important thing he learned from the Kalahari Bushmen. He thought for a good while and then said, “to tend to the small.”

I asked him what he meant and for an example. He said, “Well, if you are crouching down and looking for the lion, you are likely to become lunch. You must tend to what the plants are doing, what the bugs on the ground are doing, and changes in the air. That will protect you and guide you.”

A powerful lesson that I have spent many years trying to learn.