Musing on Simple Things

This is a bit off topic for my blog, but I couldn't help but feel delighted that the blogueros in two of my favorite places, Key West and Antigua, Guate, chose to highlight their appreciation of simplicity today in their respective, decidedly complex and sometimes commercialized, locations.

"...how can something as mundane as a wooden beam produce pleasure to look at, enjoyment at the touch, happiness at its humid-old-wooden smell?"

Shady, scrappy beaches and massive wooden posts may not be the first things that come to mind when one thinks of Key West and La Antigua, but our generously-blogging ambassadors in paradise know how to see the divine in the commonplace, and how to weave these simple things into the lives they live filled with gratitude, the kind of sweet gratitude that is multiplied by sharing it with others.

"I think we have a long way to go before we learn to appreciate the simple things in life, the non- consumptive way of life, demanded by ratty beaches, small engines and finding pleasure in what is there, unbidden, stumbled upon, borne of an idle afternoon's exploration."

It's not such a long way, really, to this kind of appreciation; all it takes is for one person to take that narrow, overgrown path, and to share with others the delight that comes from seeing the forest beyond the trees.