Eyes WIDE Open

"Hey, look, it's a woodpecker," exclaimed a young girl at my daughter's 13th birthday party, as we stood outside our house.

"Oh, yeah, we see them all the time," I said.

The day went on, and I dismissed the conversation, until a few days ago, when some friends and I were talking about every day things and thankfulness.

When we first moved to our house 10 years ago, in this area that mixes suburban and rural life, with a small wooded area in our backyard, we exclaimed over every woodpecker, coyote, deer, racoon, owl, heron, crane, rabbit, newt, butterfly, and stinkbug. Sometime between now and then, most of those sightings have become commonplace.

I used to wake up at night, awed by the sounds of deer calls, coyote howls, and owl hoots. Now I wake up, roll over and go back to sleep.

On spring mornings my family and I used to be surprised by the woodpeckers' determination to knock their heads against not only trees but metal ladders, and other objects. Now we know that the loudest males get the best mates, and we wish they would just find someone else's house to bang their heads against.

When did I lose my sense of wonder?

When I woke today and noticed the glorious wonder of a blue sky Northwest morning, I decided I wanted to regain my wonder. I'm going to keep my eyes wide open today.

What wonders do you see around you? Do you overlook them sometimes?


Also, I wanted to thank all the awesome people that stopped by for IWSG. The encouragement given is sweet, and I just want to send a SHOUT OUT of THANKS to Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting it. THANK YOU ALEX! Now, go, read his new book, CassaFire!