The other day while waiting at a stoplight, a small flock of birds whirled overhead, dipping and turning and then streaking away. And for just a moment, I really understood how amazing our world is, felt it deep in my soul. We live in a world where birds can perform acrobatics in sync just inches from each other!
I try hard to hold onto that amazed awe. This short essay, "Say Grace," by Lea Redmond, helps.
Say Grace
I am deeply delighted to live on a planet that is so big and varied that I can confidently say that right this very minute somewhere in the world a crossword puzzle is being completed, a fortune cookie is being snapped open and a song just brought someone to tears. I love knowing that while I am fast asleep in California, a crowd is gathered around the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum, a marriage proposal is taking place and a leaf-cutter ant somewhere in Costa Rica is carrying a leaf piece back to its nest. It’s not at all unlikely that as astronauts eat dinner in zero gravity, Tibetan monks are laying down sand mandalas and people in lab coats are examining their latest results as they search for a cancer cure. Simultaneously, baby sea turtles scurry down Florida beaches, an elk rubs its antlers on a tree trunk in Yellowstone and a kid in a superhero cape tells a knock-knock joke in an Arizona coffee shop. Meanwhile, a toddler takes her first steps, an old diary appears after a loved one’s death and a family is rearranging their living room furniture. Two strangers awkwardly exchange names in an elevator that just got stuck. Birthday candles are about to be blown out. An orange is being sliced into eighths and a storm is brewing. All the while, mycorrhizal fungi underground are busy communicating with trees in a mind-boggling secret system of coexistence that we’re only just beginning to wrap our brains around. In every instant, the sun is rising in one place and setting someplace else. And the moon is waxing or waning again, just as it did when the dinosaurs roamed before Pangaea split into seven pieces. Isn’t it fantastic?
Lea Redmond crafts objects, designs experiences, writes books, and plays with ideas in her studio in Oakland, California. Participate in creative projects and keep in touch with Lea at LeaRedmond.com and visit her storefront, Lucky Penny Parlor, in downtown Oakland at 329 15th Street.
From Conversations.org