Bloom

This is a chapter from my seventh book called Bookeh - Through the lens of a Trinidadian photog


It is after midnight in the middle of the week and I am in the mood to write. I go to use the bathroom and saw the blue bucket. I told myself that that blue bucket would make a good photo and probably lead to a fun chapter. In doing research I learnt about two "blue bucket" initiatives. The Perfect World Foundation is behind the Blue Bucket initiative where boat owners are reminded to pick up plastic they encounter at sea. Also, some parents use blue buckets to signal that their child has autism during trick or treat and Halloween. If I combine blue and bucket I get blucket which has both the word luck in it and if I remove luck I am left with bet. And this leads me to the two bucket theory. This is a concept used by pilots to describe the relationship between luck and experience. We start with a bucket empty of experience where we have to get bet-ter and another bucket full of luck. The bucket full of luck has a hole in it. The idea is to become full of experience before luck runs out.

There is an African proverb that goes, "Until you carry your own bucket, you won't understand the value of a drop of water." Similar to the proverb, "Don't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes." Then there is the Yoruba proverb that goes, "Do not throw away water you have in the bucket because you hear the thunder clap". I could probably fill a bucket with proverbs if I continue. Let me add one more proverb for good measure. Like this Chinese proverb, "A person cannot be judged by his appearance in the same way as the sea cannot be measured with a bucket." Speaking of the sea. The French word for bucket is seau. I guess I could say that proverbs are good for the seaul. If only seaul was the French word for soul.

This blue bucket that I have photographed is cracked at the top side and has served us well everytime the water goes and I have to take bucket baths. I am reminded about the story about the leaky bucket that has been around the internet for some time. An elderly Chinese woman carried two buckets on a pole—one perfect and one cracked. For two years, the perfect bucket felt proud while the cracked one lamented its inability to deliver a full load. One day, the cracked bucket confessed its shame, and the woman smiled, revealing that she had planted flowers along its side of the path. Each day, as the cracked bucket leaked water, it nurtured those flowers, bringing beauty to her home. The woman explained that its flaw had created joy and beauty, teaching the bucket that imperfections can lead to unexpected blessings. I like how my blue bucket led to a story of blooms. How bluetiful. And that completes another chapter in this book, eh. I think I will eventually need a bucket to carry all my books and then it would be a booket.

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