Crack in the Sidewalk

Every single morning there is magic happening when I walk in my neighborhood.  Little miracles unfolding everywhere. I don’t pretend to notice most of them, but when I do, I am so pleased to even be partly aware. 

Some of this is probably the full-blown cycle of Spring coursing through my veins, but this has always been the way of things all through the fall and winter months.  Even in January, when I walked through my mother’s neighborhood in the 20 degree, frigid north, there was an enchanting, serene snow, smooth, crystal-fractured sheets of ice and slender deer tracks left in the frozen earth.  I was saved by this morning ritual, as I am now.

Some would consider these things I refer to simply as cold, nasty weather, debris on the side of the road, dirty water in the curb, or discarded objects thrown on someone’s lawn. And this says nothing about the animal and plant life, which often takes my breathe away... their beauty, the way they move or stand still until a breeze comes by, their songs or chatter, their work, their curious play and their complete dedication to being who and what they are. 

There is the precious sun, casting early morning shadows against the starkly painted side of someone’s home, with a crisp, blue sky as the backdrop.  Sometimes there are distant, multicolored clouds on the horizon, or a grey canopy with its light rain dampening the ground.  There have even been a few foggy mornings - delicate dew drops clinging to every leaf and branch, and eventually, to my hair.   It quiets the entire world, leaving a moist intimacy and the sort of "Twilight Zone" feeling that the near by freeway traffic has ceased to exist.

I would have to say that often I am unaware of the magic, if it were not for the spontaneous, meditative state I seem to enter while I stride along some worn sidewalk for half an hour or more.  This is a holy communion with Nature, with who I am and my connection to it all - brief as it may be in such a big city neighborhood.

I noticed a bright pink spot in the crack of a sidewalk.  Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was a small sticker with a flower on it and a something else in the center.  This was a very tiny thing, and I only realized the center had a peace sign in it when I was able to observe the photo later.

It may seem a chance encounter for me to find such a thing, but I am certain that nothing happens by chance.  For now, I am happy to find what has been left behind, discarded, misplaced or just caught by the wind.... it all happens for a reason, and if I find it, I know I am part of that reason... so grateful to be graced by these little miracles.