Standing in the midst of beauty

The ordinary miracle of life is the theme today. I look out over the meadows and the flowers are purple and yellow gold and the green grass spreads like a carpet over every surface. The trees stand strong and stoic against the impending heat. The hawk circles over and looks for whatever critter it can capture. The day is about the sacred and I work to soak into it. I met a woman walking her dog as I was bringing Lily back from the cul de sac. She was with her husband and they were dressed all in black, including knit hats despite the temperature being in the low 60’s. I guess some people get a chill more than others. Maybe they were from the Florida. I find that’s the case a lot around here lately. They even had a black dog who looked like a pit bull. I brought Lily to heel and meandered over into the meadow so we could pass them without incident. She called over to me. I said Lily wasn’t very friendly. Then she saw my camera and asked me if that’s what it was. Yep. She asked if there was anything worth taking pictures of around there. I said, yep there were usually deer and coyote. I didn’t go into the flowers, the sky, the sun, the mist, the birds, or just the absolute stunning beauty of every moment that I see every morning as I walk Lily. She then introduced herself.-- Nutmeg. This is when self-restraint is the best option. I didn’t ask if that was her real name or one she chose after becoming an adult. Instead, I called out my name to her and pointed to my house. She said they lived behind the trees. Again, I was thankful for a lot of self-restraint in my response. Of course the dogs were barking furiously by that time and her husband was urging her on. She called across to me that we’d talk later about where the best place is to take pictures. I kind of doubt it. I mean, we may speak to each other, but I’m not sure how you explain to someone standing in the midst of beauty how to see it. It really is a matter of focus. I realize that some days my vision is pretty tight and narrow in order to really capture what I’m looking at, but it’s there all the time whether the lens is wide angle or macro. You just have to see it.