Seeing? Or Merely Looking?

  It was a bright, sunshiny day here on the Bayou.  It was one of those days were the sun beams down upon you and causes sweat to run down your face in tiny rivulets.  It was hot.  It was one of those days where it was best to work in the shade if you had a desire to be outside at all.  I chose to repaint the wicker chairs.  This could be done in the shade of the old oak tree and allow me to at least avoid much of the heat.  All was good.

  While out, I decided that the garden needed the aid of the sprinkler so I dragged the garden hose about the place and set the sprinkler in motion. Well, that was not the brightest move!  The sprinkler was blocking my exit.  I would have to walk the long way around the house to get back to my painting job.  As I did, I noticed that the Gloriosa Lilies were blooming.  Ahh, what is a few extra steps when you can observe such beauty?   I admired the lilies' bright hues and then noticed that the brilliant sun was making me "see" much more than I observed.  While the lilies were highly colorful with their yellows, oranges and reds, it was the shadows that actually made me see the shapes of the flowers and leaves.  Wow!  I was looking at something I have seen a thousand times in an entirely different way;  

  I am always stressing to folks that they need to see and not just look. This action takes things to a higher level.  Seeing the minuscule, the obscure or the overlooked sometimes can enlighten you to new thoughts, new ideas and a new way of seeing things.  The beauty enthralled me to the point that for the rest of this sunshiny day, I chased shadows.