Are some birds bossing the others?
Are they as grumpy as they sound?
Does each one honk its way into its place in line like a snarl of traffic funneled from three lanes to one during the convergence of construction and rush hour?
Why all the honking?
The bird collection morphs, shifts, stretches into some semblance of a single line, then two. A “V” of sorts emerges with one side much longer than the other.
More honking, more flapping, and I wonder –
Do they even notice the golden dawn through which they fly?
Do they observe the pigeons murmuring and preening along the barn peak?
Do they hear the singing creek, tumbling fast over a jumble of rocks and debris after yesterday’s rain?
Do they turn their long necks toward the laughter of two straw-hatted boys carrying feed for a little flock of white chickens strung behind them like a dozen ruffled pearls?
Do they smell the sweet aroma of damp hay, drying as the sun’s rays touch wilting leaves?
Do they notice Sadie’s fancy sunflowers with their upturned faces shining toward a greater glory?
Do they even know they’re flying?
How often are we like the geese, honking our way to the front of the line, the top of the ladder, and somehow missing the beauty around us.
We’re flying as if nothing else matters, often missing what matters most.
I’m challenged this summer to accept the words of Psalm 118:24 as a daily dare:
Can I find moments in any ordinary day that are transformed by wonder if I.just.pause.to.notice?
Even if I’m living my life in “flyover country” and everyone else is honking toward a Wonderworld Destination, can I be the one to notice the greenest green of the meadow or diamonds on a Kale leaf?
Can I tune my ear to hear the bird choir at sunrise, the song of the lake frogs at dusk, the chuckle of a child in a puddle?
Can I pause long enough in the honking rush of the day to look up when I'm retrieving the newspaper and say, right now, wow!?
I will rejoice and be glad in it. It’s a choice I can make each day, each hour if necessary, even moment by moment. To keep looking until I see, to keep listening until I hear, to stop honking and dare to pause in the wonder of the Here and Now.
Haha, I guess it’s another adventure in going nowhere.
(Double dog dare. Or would that be double goose?)