Astounishment

"Let me keep company always with those who say "Look!" and laugh in astounishment, and bow their heads." From Mary Oliver's poem 'Mysteries, Yes' from her book Evidence.
I like that. I like that alot. That has been me this Sabbatical. I have been astounded by what I have seen, heard, experienced and felt. You can't help but laugh at Prairie Dogs when they stand up and yell at you when safe atop their mounds. You can't help but laugh as your dogs try to get them and end up running from hole to hole as the Prairie dogs take turns distracking them. And you wonder how the little three-legged dog pushes the bigger four-legged dog out of the way because the three-legged dog can dig faster. Watching two Texas dogs tip-toe through snow to do their business, and then when any adventure is over they come running back to you to be patted and scratched and told how great they are. How can you not bow your head in gratitude for the love they give you and for the One who created them.
Discoveries on mountain paths, in books, watching thunderstorms, experiencing sunrises and sunsets, standing in the falling snow, sitting in front of a fire with both your dogs in your lap, as you feel grateful because your spouse is laughing, or hugging your spouse in the middle of the afternoon just because you can, or hearing the wind in the tops of 60 foot pine trees. When you have these miracles spring upon you as if they were something totally new and you were the only one to notice, and then your are opened to the awareness that a "Thank You" would be approptiate, and to laugh out loud because you know Who to thank. Then you bow your head and are quiet.