As I started to prepare to write my first “adventure” post of the year, I felt a profound need to share something I was reminded of this week!
I have seen Cardinals throughout my life… having lived in many places where they are so common, you forget to appreciate their presence! As I sat in the bird blind at Lake Corpus Christi State Park, I couldn’t help but watch them dance from branch to branch and be mesmerized by their bright colors! After a while, an elderly couple joined me in the blind and I quietly greeted them. The lady had told me that “they aren’t from here and where they live, they don’t get to see Cardinals!” This hit me like a bag of bricks! A world without Cardinals was never even a thought… How beautiful they must be to someone who is seeing them for the first time, or someone who hasn’t seen them in years!
It was later that day that I sent a picture to family to show them what I had been up to that morning… and the reply I got shook me to my core!
It wasn’t the reply you would think… it wasn’t mean, it wasn’t hateful to my art, it wasn’t downplaying my photography…
It was that the subject of my capture was just unappreciated.
The text read, “Ummmmmm. Not to brag, but… Epic pics of cardinals isn’t really a big deal around here.” There were some heart, heart eyes, and laughing emojis included telling me that this wasn’t a diss on my photography… it was just a statement that this person is no stranger to seeing Cardinals on a regular basis.
How lucky we are to see something everyday… but how blind are we to not appreciate it!!
I’ve been acutely aware of this blindness ever since I started my full-time RV lifestyle! Visiting new areas, seeing things for the first time, experiencing the wonder and awe everywhere I go… I have started to learn to remember to not take anything for granted! When I was in Arizona, I stared at the Saguaro cacti every single day! When talking to my new neighbors, I mentioned how beautiful this place was and how special the cacti and terrain is. They looked at me like I was crazy because, to them, it was normal and nothing special! I realized that the people who live out west would probably think the same thing if they saw the beautiful lush rolling farm lands and Pine trees that touch the sky in East Texas… I do appreciate my home base and the views, but far to easily I could forget to take a moment and appreciate its beauty and uniqueness!
The text was just an important reminder for me to never loose my sense of wonder, to always stop and appreciate natures beauty even if I’ve seen it a million times before! There may be a day when it is no longer there and I don’t want to regret not appreciating it enough.
