Beach Distractions

One evening a man sat in a rickety lawn chair surrounded by pigeons. His chair was festooned with flags which presented onlookers a bit of an insight into his values. When the birds began to wander off, he would toss seeds vigorously into the air and the flock would return to nibble on the bounty. I thought this was a totally freaky sight to behold. Mary Poppins tunes played as a background sound track in my head. Norah paid him no attention.

I was curious about Norah's lack of interest in a sight I considered strange - until I realized that everything about the beach is new to Norah. I tried to notice what Norah noticed - unsullied by her own bad assumptions and judgments and prior experiences. Nature held her spellbound - sand, sea, puddles, sand fiddlers and sand castles. She showed only a slight preference for people her size versus the grown ups who were quite taken with our little running, jumping, laughing sprite in a pink hat and coordinating beachwear. Mostly, she longed to dance in the waves.

One difference between children and us older people seems to be our comparing minds. Shell collectors compare among the millions of tiny shell pieces to find the best shell among the offerings. We adults compare body type and swimwear options or who has the most clever solution for creating shade on a sunny day. Boys check out girls and girls check out boys. Surfer novices side-eye their fellow students. What a distraction!

I wonder how much we miss when we are so distracted by our comparing, judging minds.