How Do You See, What Do You See

Do you see the world as a series of details or do you see the world as a series of grand themes?

One of the goals on my recent trip to the mountains was to find interesting bits and pieces of nature.  This goal lead me to ponder why I rarely spot these bits on my own. And this rumination lead me to realized that I overlook pretty pine cones and heart shaped rocks because I rarely look down, unless it's to make sure I don't trip over some obstacle.  I look up and out.  I notice the sky, the shape of clouds, the play of light and dark, the horizon.....but not the ground under my feet.

I'm a big picture person.  I like to see the whole and draw my conclusions from that.  Details are collected and used to understand the big picture more clearly. Detail for the sake of detail is just not part of my genetic make-up.

I realized all of this when I enlisted the help of my grandchildren to help me find tiny stuff.

 The kids and their other grandmother kept bringing me bits and pieces that I had completely missed.

But, I didn't miss seeing the incredible way the sunlight exposed the shape of this old cabin and the cedar tree growing beside it.  

I saw the way the sunlight backlit tree branches and made them look almost white against the eggplant of the dark mountain behind them.  I noticed the drifting mists rising up from the ground and off steamy wooden rooftops. I counted the colors of green-gray to blue to purple of the mountain tops as they faded into the horizon.

And occasionally I saw some details too.

Like the flecks of paint on this wagon wheel.

And I even found one of these!