Gryph's Lair

I just finished watching a beautiful movie. It was titled "Nell," and it was about a woman who had never been exposed to our so-called society. It broke my heart at the same time that it inspired me. Towards the end, Nell explains to the world that we know "such big things," but that we don't really see the little things. And as a general rule, she is completely right. To quote the movie, "You have big things. You know big things. But you don't look into each other's eyes. And you're hungry for quietness." How true is that?

Right after finishing my movie, I came across an amazing quote... "Rainbows and butterflies are themselves beautiful and highly symbolic, but they are also representative of all the small miracles of our life - the little things that are so easy to overlook, yet so awe inspiring when we take a moment to notice and to pay attention. Give thanks for the rainbows, for the butterflies, for all God's creatures - large and small, for the the bright blue sky and the soft fog and the gentle rain, for the tree veiled in the season's first frost, for the baby's laugh, for the touch of a hand and the whispered "I love you." ~Jonathon Lockwood Huie

I sometimes get teased when I get distracted by a hawk winging its way above me, or the way water trickles over a rock, or the sound of a bird chiming it's happiness. When I stop to photograph a snail, or a patch of mushrooms, or the way the moss drapes across a branch. Those are my rainbows and butterflies.

How simple, and yet how true... We know big things, we have big things, but we certainly don't look into each other's eyes. Do you ever seek out the quietness? Do you ever turn off the TV, turn off the phone- and I mean OFF, not just on silent, turn off the video games and the computer and the radio, and just be? I hike. It's my way of escaping the world. One of the most amazing moments I can remember this last year was sitting before a waterfall, just me and my dog, and just being. I don't know how much time had passed, it could have been hours or just a few minutes. I just know one thing... it was still. In spite of the water pouring over the cliff above me, and the river churning below me... In spite of the many hikers I am certain were up on the cliff behind me... For that span of time, I was alone, just me and my dog. I closed my eyes and felt the spray on my face... and just was.