Wicked Awesome

Ben came running out of the bathroom and yelled "That was wicked awesome!". I froze. Oh, no! What has he done now. I could only imagine the kind of mess my five year old had made in the bathroom which he would think was awesome, and I would have to clean up. I took his little hand and asked him to show me. He took me to the sink where his little boat lay next to the drain. He had filled the sink and then pulled the plug. The boat had spun round and round as the water drained. This was "wicked awesome" to him. I sighed in relief, no mess to clean up this time. Later that day I reflected on this incident. Having majored in Physics, I have a fairly thorough understanding of the hows and whys the boat spun in a spiral toward the drain. But, to a five year old, this was truly an amazing sight. I had to pause and consider this learning moment, not for him, but for myself. What kinds of "wicked awesome" stuff was I missing each day because I am so wrapped up in the craziness of running a household of six children. How sad that my life has become so hectic, and at times mundane, that I am missing out on the extraordinary around me. I decided that I was going to find something that would make me want to run into the street and yell to all around me "that's wicked awesome". My moment came as I was watering the flowers. We have a beautiful Russian sage which attracts both bees and butterflies. As I showered water on the plant I noticed that these insects were sharing the same flowers. Two creatures, so different in appearance, competing for the same life giving nectar, were capable of sharing. There was no mad buzzing, no mid-air combat, just animals taking turns. A smile crossed my lips, if only we could all live like these bees and butterflies. That was wicked awesome.