- Flipping TV channels, I heard a movie character say,
"I don’t care if he’s a member of the god-damned Salvation Army”. I snorted at the incongruity; there’s a phrase you never expect to hear. Not exactly a joy but pretty funny.
- My house backs onto a large church building. From my lawn chair one day in June, I heard applause through the church basement‘s open windows. It was graduation day at nursery school. Over and over there were bursts of applause and camera flashes. I laughed out loud when I heard music begin and realized it was Elger’s “Pomp and Circumstance” the traditional processional piece at formal occasions. My heart warmed at such signs of appreciation for dear children.
- Losing any Buddhist pretensions to non-violence I killed a mosquito whose gut was already red with my arm’s blood. Seconds later, I noticed what must have been one of its legs on the page of my book. The black strand was about 2 centimetres long and as thin as a pen stroke. How can insects at that size and fragility survive long enough to reproduce by the millions? Itchy awe.
- In preparation for the national holiday, my neighbour draped a Maple Leaf flag over her garden bench. One morning a bright crimson cardinal landed beside the red and white flag, and posed for a moment like a cheerful Canadian dressed for the fireworks show. As I watched, he flew down to forage on the driveway and a female cardinal fluttered in to replace him on the bench. I remained still, a grin of joy on my face. If you want to see Nature’s wonders you have to linger. Lo and behold, the male flew back to the female and, beak-to-beak, presented her with a diamond ring...or maybe it was a juicy bug.
