Thoughts - February 5, 2017

“It is always quietly thrilling to find yourself looking at a world you know well but have never seen from such an angle before.”
― Bill Bryson, At Home: A Short History of Private Life.

When was a time you saw your familiar surroundings from a different angle? I remember being aware of this as a child, when my dear Cousin from the big city came to visit our little town in the hills of WV. I must have been 7 or 8 years old as I proudly walked her down our Main Street, pointing out the movie theater and Dairy Queen. And the first time I brought home a 'serious' boyfriend - seeing my parents and home in a new light. Or, being ill, seeing the daytime view from my upstairs bedroom. And most dear to my heart, the first time I share our "Wilderness" (cabin and woods deep in the mountains) - seeing the small river and waterfalls through new eyes, sinking down into the thick moss as if the first time. Am I grateful or do I see things as alien? Disturbing or relief? And, yes, a tingling of thrill as if seeing it for the first time. - Beth Almond Ford