A Quiet While

We are so worried about missing moments that we become too attached to screens of one sort of another.  It is thus that we ignore the wonder around us.

This morning I was enjoying a mug of English Breakfast Tea in the living room.  I had gone there to sit on the sofa to think and plan and make a list but I ended up watching a video instead.  Something kept distracting me--flashes of movement outside the window.  Finally I turned off the video so I could pay attention to the show that was going on in real time:  a red bird was earning his wings.

The young cardinal, watched closely by his mom, sat for a long time on the cobalt blue glass of my bottle tree before making a low diving flight toward an azalea.  He practiced his wing strokes gliding back and forth along the lower shrubs and finally flew high into a sweet gum tree.  Then, shockingly, he let go, wings tucked close to his sides, and zoomed straight down.  I thought that something must have gone wrong but he was fine--probably laughing at the human who couldn't understand the finer points of learning flight.

There was other action going on in the background, too--a squirrel romping near the pond while carrying an overly large pinecone, a placid jackrabbit munching long tender strands of grass, bees busily buzzing to and fro.

When I went to the kitchen  a few minutes later to refill the kettle, I could hear birdsong through the open window, tuneful and joyous.  And as I stood at the sink, I looked out to watch a large proud bright green anole lizard, stationed on the corner of the screen porch, puffing his red neck as far as he could in the hopes of attracting a mate. 

The real business of this world continues while we don't think to look:  practicing an art, feeding a hunger, creating joy, looking for love, moving toward the future.  It's what we should be doing, too, instead of staring at screens.

Go.  Turn off all the electronics.  Look through a window.  Or, better, sit outside for awhile.  Breathe deep.  Listen.  Watch.  Important things are afoot.

Be inspired by the real world.
Life is good.