The Wild World Will Find You

The Wild World Will Find You
Dande Jack

A not so gentle reminder to unplug shot across the sky outside of our picture window the other night. Unbeknownst to me, caught up in the current of our December hustle, the Geminid meteor shower was on night two of its epic show. Immersed in a movie with Rich after hours, a brilliant bit of comet debris burned through our atmosphere engaging my peripheral vision. It was the most flamboyant shooting star I've seen to date and it shook me right out of my nightly stupor. Halfway decompressing with the story-telling in our flick while the other half of me ruminated on heavier worries which fight for their place in my consciousness, the fantastical celestial interruption freed my body and mind for that moment.

Oh yeah! It's about that time of the year, when this annual shower dances across our sky. Succeeding the new moon, up to 120 meteors can be seen in the darkness of the waxing moon. No matter how deep I can venture into the darkness of my mind, or how distracted I can be amidst the flurry of our day-to-day life with kids and a business, the mysticism and wonder of this world find me. Just the next afternoon while driving to school to pick up May, Jack and I saw a little fox waiting to cross the road. I watched in our rear view mirror as the little one found a spot to sit in the middle of the road, just like Peg and Roux do when they are looking for a treat. The approaching car idled, waiting until the juvenile made his way to the other side of the road and into a thicket. Good luck red fox. You are a wonder, and thank you for disrupting the mental mathematics I was doing when you crossed our path, figuring how to complete my task list in between dinner time and before bedtime. Instead, I was called back to my carride with Jack, during which we speculated about what the young fox's story was and where it was going.

I find that a moment like the shooting star, effectively gets me in gear until I slip out again. I'm only human. But I find that life is more rewarding when I'm in my favorite gear...the slowest gear. Just today while sitting in wait for a small fleet of folks to drive through a quiet suburban parking lot to pick up our week's harvest and bakes, a strong 'peoughhhh' sounded next to me. A northern flicker sat adjacent to the truck in the bare branches of the shrubs skirting the parking lot. All the while I read my book on the tailgate, the flicker put down countless berries, having felt sure that I was too intimidated by it's peough call to pose a threat. So showy with his black moustache and spotted belly, whatever mystery lied in wait in my book could never compare to breakfast with this woodpecker. This bird is a child's painting come true (You've got to look this bird up if you are unfamiliar). The days I forget to lose myself in the wild world, I lose track of how incredible life is. No doubt world politics and the games we humans play are uninspiring enough to dissuade you of that.

Under the natural bridge...another earthly wonder found at Red River Gorge last weekend

Anytime I give it a chance, the natural world makes me smile and wonder what do we humans know anyway? On our afternoon walk before sitting down to write, Jack found a lonesome brilliant dandelion in new bloom in the midst of our western field. "This one survived the winter!", he said to me incredulously. You tender golden thing, you. Thank you for giving Jack a surprise and a flower to pick. Thank you for fanning the flame of wonder that burns in him and may it glow brighter for all the suprises yet to come.


Thank you for reading :).

If you would like to support my writing you can "buy me a coffee" below: