Simple Wonder

By Greg Rideout

Time: 10 a.m

Weather: Overcast but warm, 65 F

Route: Over the creek and through the tunnels

Distance: Over 3 miles

As I ran, the gray morning gave a surreal feel to the space around me. Wet grass and puddled paths made me aware of my steps, and I concentrated more than normal on where my feet hit the ground. Looking down, I watched my sneakers, sometimes changing direction at the last minute to avoid a hazard.  It kept me occupied. 

I am prone to obsessing, at least for short periods of time. Such intensity allows for interesting observations. With my run today, I noticed the state of my shoes (perhaps a new pair are in order) and how individual drops of rain or dew held fast to small blades of grass. Here: I saw glass imbedded in dirt. There: a fallen branch split into pieces formed an abstract canvas on the ground. 

I like when I find a good by-product of a trait that can seem to some to be negative. People who obsess on things do run into negative consequences. But that only happens when you are not aware of that obsession. There are times that I spend a half-hour looking for a slip of paper contains an address I need instead of looking it up in Google. I think I like turning things over, rifling through papers and searching through books or boxes. Even though I need something specific, at a deeper level, I believe I might turn up something new or an item I have not seen in a while. (I once found the newspaper I saved from the day the Challenger space shuttle exploded while looking for tax documents.)

So today while focused on keeping my feet from planting in mud, I got to see new things: caterpillars crawling on the asphalt and a color of mud -- green/red -- that I don't think I've seen before. There's wonder wherever you go -- even if you're not looking for it.