SPRING BREAK Journal: Friday, March 17, 2006

Yesterday I saw some unusual sights. As I was walking past the pond in the park on my way to the Somerset Tea House for lunch with friends, I happened to notice a stone on the ground that I had never seen before. It was just beside the pond, and on it were engraved some words from a poem by James Russell Lowell. I don’t recall the exact words, but I do recall being astonished that I had never seen this stone before. I have walked past that pond probably hundreds of times, yet never saw the stone with the engraved words. I find it amazing that I missed it all these years, and it only makes me wonder, as I often have, how many thousands of special sights I’ve missed over the years. A few minutes later, as I was walking slowly along, I happened to glance down at the sidewalk and noticed the shadows of some branches. They were moving slowly in interesting patterns on the cement, and for some reason they completely caught my attention. I stopped and watched them for perhaps thirty seconds (a long time for me). It struck me, as I stood there watching the moving shadows, that I had never done that before in my life – never watched those particular shadows at that particular spot. Then, after a delicious and cordial lunch with my friends at the Tea House, I walked back through the park and noticed a huge dog pulling a slight and worried woman along on a leash. The poor woman was almost being dragged as the dog lunged along the sidewalk and across the grass. I pictured myself rescuing her if she suddenly fell and was towed across the park by her pet.