I used to think they were so stupid. It’s funny that we jump to “stupid.” In actuality, I guess I was afraid of them – the Canadian geese. Sure, I had been chased a little walking past Lake Henry, but never harmed, only hurried. (That hurrying was really my own doing. My own enemy.)

We saw a flock yesterday, overhead. In their usual “V”, heading south. How beautiful, I thought. And smart. I guess it’s all about perspective.

I went for a walk. I stopped by a little swamp. How lovely, I thought. I should take a picture. I took different angles. Look at the moss. The wildflowers. That bird on a twig. All the colors of green – the mixture of blue sky and yellow sun. So calm. So alive.

Living here, I must admit that I didn’t see it. It was all so ordinary. And swamps like these – you couldn’t swim in them. And I loved to swim – so for me it was useless. But when you live a little more. See a little more, you can see the beauty in things that are not meant just for you. This swamp is for the birds (I laugh when I type it) – for the fish, and flowers. For the greens of every growth. Seeing it, I was happy, for all of them – which made me happy for me, just to see it.

I heard the familiar honk overhead. The geese already knew. They weren’t so stupid after all.

Today will bring beauty. If I have the curiosity to look around. The wisdom to look up.