Today as I wandered through my neighborhood on my morning walk, I stopped to watch a cardinal as he flitted from bush to tree in the strip of green that marks the course of a gas pipeline. I listened as he and his mate called back and forth to one another. I never spotted her.

I stopped to examine some sunflowers going to seed, wondering if they would soon provide food for the cardinals.

I stopped again to look at the way the sun caught in the blossoms of some crepe myrtles, still heavy with the dampness of the night.

I also witnessed someone run a red light. Another driver zipped through a stop sign as if it wasn’t even there.

Why are we so afraid to stop? We’re so intent on our plans, our established course, our goals. We miss so much. We’re surrounded by this great entangled mass of life. We’re part of it, but we hardly ever stop to notice.

This is my thought for the day:

“Stop.” (Not permanently, just often.)

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