I went looking for strange creatures this week in Washington, D.C. I know, I know: it shouldn’t be very hard, you quip. Especially only a few blocks away from the Capitol, swathed in scaffolding.
But I made my search harder today by not knowing for some time what I was after. When I set out under gray skies after my event ended today, my only thought was to find a bench.
And at first, nothing out of the ordinary presented itself. I sat. And listened. People passed. After a while, a squirrel caught my eye. Doggedly digging, he finally came up with the prize of an acorn. Inspired, I thought I’d wander a bit and dig a bit more for something noteworthy.
There were signs of spring. Worthy of a shot or two, but not a blog post.
It took my looking up to find it. There, in a park, on the side of a tree was a weirdly shaped burl, and from my angle, looked like a type of warty ogre.
Nearby was another one, more of a brutish bruin.
That’s when I went on my quest for fanciful creatures. It actually wasn’t very hard. I soon tracked down and captured a lion.
A griffin.
A somewhat lame phoenix.
And a marvelously textured tiger with a gaping maw.
My theme this year is to contemplate wonder. I’m on the lookout for things that make me ask, How can this be? Perhaps that’s why we’re drawn to imaginary and majestic animals: they’re something wild in the midst of our predictable lives -- bound to make us wonder, if we took the time to consider them.
That’s the big IF. I am convinced that there is no such thing as drive-by wonder. Amazement requires contemplation. And the funny thing is, one doesn’t need extraordinary nature to contemplate for it to work. As I watched a simple sparrow flit around me as I ate inside Union Station, I wondered at its adaptability to thrive inside the cavernous building. It really is kind of incredible.
For that matter, so is learning a lesson from a squirrel. Wouldn’t he have been pleased to know I did.
No comments:
Post a Comment