My favorite childhood cartoon was The Adventures of Tintin. As a teen, when we migrated to the states, the Looney Tunes became a favorite; and as an adult Sponge Bob Square Pants has replaced all else. One of my favorite fictional characters in the Looney Tunes series was Elmer J. Fudd (pictured here) who was the adversary of Bugs Bunny.
Bugs Bunny, constantly ruined Elmer’s garden by digging holes and eating his vegetables. Elmer would use guns, dynamites, traps, and every possible tool to rid his garden of the bunny. This struggle, though inhumane for this day and time, was hilarious, because bugs bunny always outsmarted him.
This note is about Elmer Fudd because my next-door neighbor reminds me of him. Ironically, this neighbor even looks like a younger version of Elmer. That is why I will call him Elmer Jr. in this note. Some days, as I do my dishes, I can see Elmer Jr. auditing the grounds and looking for holes that moles or voles (both large underground rodents). He spends his precious time and resources on all kinds of poison, mole dynamite, and even firecrackers to get rid of these pests in his garden. I am assuming all his tools are sold at the hardware store and are legal to use. I must say his garden looks amazing; but watching this live action looney tunes has become a regular, yet sad entertainment for us.
Watching Elmer Jr. makes me think of all the pests in my life. Pests that I have zero control over, and thank goodness, I am not allowed to place a dynamite in their den. Pests in my life range from boys leaving their stuff around the house, the kitties using the couch to sharpen their nails, neighbors parking their car in front of our driveway, to receiving unsolicited advice from those I least trust. This is just in the home front, in the social arena, if I were to behave like Elmer Fudd; can you imagine the amount of jail time I would have to serve? And you know there is no shortage of inconsiderate human beings. Can you imagine tying them to a cannonball and sending them to space like Elmer often does to Bugs Bunny? I can…LOL…just kidding.
Our lives and happiness induce a delicate balance of accepting things as they are, or working efficiently to change what we don’t like. Normally, I find my happiness through understanding that every living being in this universe has a purpose in my life. This purpose can be teaching me something; or making an impact collectively to the world. For instance, moles are beneficial to the garden in the long run. They eat many pestiferous insects and by tunneling and moving soil particles, moles make way for better aeration of the soil, which help sods to dry out and allows organic matters to travel deeper into the soil. Besides their practical purpose, these moles have some form of a lesson for Elmer Jr.
I think the lesson for Elmer Jr. who has been fighting the mole colonies in his yard for years is to accept that these rodents have as much right to live in his garden as he does. Perhaps the lesson here is the art of adjustment. As M.S. Irani says: "True happiness begin when one learns the art of right adjustment to other persons and right adjustment involves SELF-FORGETFULNESS & LOVE". In the case of Elmer Jr., self-forgetfulness will mean leaving the moles alone and letting his yard be full of holes and dirt piles. Is that fair to him? I don’t think so…How do we manage the moles in our lives? I know killing them is not the solution.
So, the daily brawl of reminding the boys, the cats, the neighbor, and the advice givers is perhaps what life is about. If I were Elmer Jr. , I would resort to more humane way of dealing with the moles. Maybe he can trap them and move them to the end of the yard and fill the ground with grubs and insects, so they are contained in one section. Frankly, I am not qualified to give advice on how to deal with annoyances in our lives; but one thing I have experienced before is that sometimes when you make peace with the pests in your life, they go away effortlessly.
AMBKJ