Remember that old saying about stopping to smell the roses? When Only was little, we did that. A lot. We spent over an hour watching a cicada metamorph from a “beetle” into it’s winged version. The technical term for their beetle form is chrysalis. Anyway, she and I watched. And when the space shuttle flew over at night, we’d head to the yard to watch it zoom across the sky. Meteor showers. The one time the Northern Lights were visible, we chased them for miles. Small flowers. Big trees. Animals and magical insects of all sorts. We stopped and watched the little things. The same with people, when she got older. We’d watch and listen and make notes. Because I’m a writer and I never know when something I observed will have a place in a book. Only? She’s a historian. She honed her powers of observation so she could note both small and large for posterity. The thing is, we both paid attention to the signs.
Those little things that you alone see, Silver, aren’t by chance.
The sign, the squirrel, the dragonfly; the whisper, the song, the lily.
It’s me. I’m always with you. I’ll do anything to reach you — to give you hope, keep you on track, answer your questions.
Look even closer,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®Still serpentine’ing, Silver? Me, too… SQUIRREL!
As a writer, I never know where I’ll find the inspiration for a story, a scene, a character, or a setting. And so often, it’s the little things that make the difference. What about you? Do you stop and smell the roses?
Silver James 
Yep. Whenever possible, I’ve been one for stopping to smell the roses and all the wildflowers. Eat the wild fruits. Find the prettiest rocks and shells. Watch the ants excavating. Follow the lazy flights of hawks and eagles and vultures. Listen to the birdsong. Pick out images in the clouds.
I don’t know about over there, but here the cicadas are setting up quite the cacophony every day. Holy moly. Interesting bugs, but to be honest, they creep me right the hell out. I know they’re harmless, but… :shudder: Twice this week, I thought I’d encountered a dead one laying on the ground, but when I nudged them to get them out of the path so I wouldn’t step on them, they fluttered their wings and, of course, I jumped.
We need the little things, if only to distract us from the big things. ;o)
And this is why we are sisters from different misters. 😉 It’s probably a good thing that we don’t live close to each other. We’d never get anything done because we’d be sitting on the deck, drinking coffee, and taking it all in (or reading/listening) and not talking because that’s how we roll. 😀