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Small Moments
Learning to Slow Down and Observe Your World By George Ayres
A few days ago as I was sitting at my desk hustling to meet a deadline, I looked out the window and saw my 3-year-old daughter, Miranda, crouched close to the sidewalk, watching the concrete.
I walked outside to see what was holding her rapt attention, knowing full well that her fascination with insects was probably a safe bet.
She looked up at me, then back to the ground.
"Look, Daddy. Buggies!"
I bent down next to her and watched as her tiny finger followed an isopod that was quickly heading for cover in the closest flower bed. She scooted it along.
"It's a roly-poly. It's going to find its mommy," she said.
"It looks like that's where it's going," I agreed.
Later that day Miranda and I walked out on the back porch to water the plants. The branches of one of our pepper plants was sagging. The sun had been hot the last few days, and the plant was desperately in need of water.
Miranda used her plastic watering can to help, and as I turned to walk inside, she said, "Wait, Daddy. Look."
She was clearly pointing at something, but I saw nothing.
"What do you see?" I asked.
"Look," she said again.
As I looked closer I saw a large spider web that ran from one side of the grill to the back of one of the patio chairs. It was not easy to see, but when I bent down and turned at an angle away from the sun, I could see its silken glow shining in perfect formation. Just off the center of the web and up toward the top, a dark brown spider stood guard, waiting for an unsuspecting insect.
