Astonishment 1

 *Originally posted on my Wordpress blog 03.04.2020

"Pay attention.  Be Astonished. Tell About it."

Mary Oliver

March can be a dreary, dishrag mop of a month - gray, wet, cold, meh. But not this March day.  No, this is a blue-sky beautiful March day.  The bare trees grow new blossoms and white filament clouds flutter by.  The school and work day has started so there is very little traffic as I drive the open country road home from the grocery store.  Suddenly Elton John's voice sings through the speakers:

"There's a calm surrender
To the rush of day

When the heat of a rolling wave
Can be turned away"

Yes, I know it's a stale song, trite and overplayed. But, Elton John does have a lovely voice and I did see The Lion King when it was in San Francisco some years back.  I can't resist allowing myself to be pulled in by the emotion that swirls around the song. I am amazed by the beauty that my eyes and ears are taking in.  It's one of those moments where I know I am alive.  In honor of Mary Oliver, let's call it an astonished moment.

"There's a time for everyone
If they only learn
That the twisting kaleidoscope
Moves us all in turn"
Elton John

Did you ever really think about that?  That the twisting kaleidoscope moves us all in turn? There's something poignant and real and true about that idea.  I breathe it in and continue on my way, a little lighter, a little more buoyant for having paid attention to the magnificent world around me.  Here's to beauty and astonishment.  Maybe we all find some in every day.