Recently a friend and I stood on the
sidewalk for several minutes as we watched a male cardinal take advantage of a
front lawn sprinkler. He hopped in and out of the spray and among the green
leaves of the ground cover. He ruffled his feathers so all the black and red
looked like spiked hair. His occasional chirp did not seem to call his mate but
we kept looking up and hoping she would appear. Two women walking back from the
farmer's market quietly joined us and we smiled at each other when he flew to a
nearby bush to shake off the droplets until he was satisfied and then went up
high in a tree.
It was a real treat to watch and
reminded me of carefree days running through the sprinkler myself or with a
chum from across the street. Now if I'm out for an early morning or late
evening walk and there is a sprinkler going, I time my stride to avoid getting
drenched.
From the tooth fairy to believing
the world is a safe place, we have lost most of our early beliefs and
inhibitions. With each passing year of adolescence we discovered reality. Our
older sibling or parent did not know everything. What we thought was cool was
not. We realized we disagreed with something preached from the pulpit or the
podium. With each dose of adulthood we lost our innocence, naivety and belief
in happy endings.
I think, however
that we retain a tiny piece of hope that each of our early convictions could
really be true. The success of Harry Potter's eventual good over evil proves
that since the series was as popular with adults as with children. As we
approach the conventions, still believing that democracy is truly the best form
of government, and await the summer Olympics, where we trust the system to weed
out cheating so that champions can arise, I pray that we can keep those
glimmers of hope, those beliefs from our childhood alive. I started last night
by running through a sprinkler and recommend you try it. I smiled all the way
home.
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