Moon Dreams

I've found that I like the look of a night sky when it's full of rain clouds reflecting a city that doesn't want to be in the dark. There's just something about the nice glow it casts back on us Earth dwellers and our surroundings. Last night was just such a night. I was out walking Elliott when I noticed it, and I stopped and realized how nice it all looked. I guess I was in a contemplative mood.

Back in my days as a camp counselor, I spent entire summers under a Texas sky filled to overflowing with stars. For about the first week or so, I couldn't get over the sight of all those stars against that perfectly black backdrop. But after that I got used to it. The miraculous became the every night. But every so often, for whatever reason, I'd find myself looking back up there and I'd remember that, indeed, that sky was beautiful, and I knew I would miss it when I was back in the city. Not a sight to be taken for granted.

Watching Henry is kind of the same way. Right now as he grows and progresses, as he speaks new words and tries out using his little legs to carry himself around, as we watch this new human try out all his faculties for the first time, it's so blessedly easy to get excited about it. But as time goes by, I suppose the fact that he can walk will no longer seem so exciting, and perhaps we'll sometimes wish he'd stop talking for just a few minutes. But the fact that we forget to notice how amazing it all is doesn't make it any less so. Hell, the fact that any of us can walk or that we can communicate simply by opening our mouths is something to stop and be thankful for. Little every day miracles, like those stars in the sky.

I guess I'm still in a contemplative mood. It's where I like to be sometimes.