Thursday, April 3, 2014

LIKE A LION ROARING


"The King", oil,
by Don Gray
 Sometimes I see things so startling that it’s almost like a lion roaring to remind me of how surprising life is. These wake-up calls come not from strange and outlandish things, but from just the simplest, most commonplace stuff of everyday life. If I’m sort of dozing in my thoughts while walking around the yard, suddenly I might see a set of trees along our street standing so straight and self-possessed, and I’m startled into wakefulness by the simple rightness of them. Or, if I’m sleepwalking through some humdrum household tasks, out of the blue I might notice a yellow bowl on a table beside a window, and that small, undistinguished bowl seems to shout at me to wake up and watch for the ever-present wonders around me. These lions in my life, thank heavens, roar quite regularly to keep me alert. I can effortlessly daydream through most of any day, but usually some small, obvious thing – a single shadow on the lawn, a fluttering leaf, a sky so blue it stuns you – roars to me now and then, and I bow in my heart in thanks.    

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