In The Moment

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Inchworm, Inchworm,
Measuring the marigolds
Doing your arithmetic
You’ll probably go far …
Inchworm, Inchworm,
Measuring the marigolds
Seems to me you’d stop and see
How beautiful they are.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


In his usual pattern, Incrediboy wanted to go out and play after dinner last night. I had a hundred chores and was not in the mood. But I sat the dishes and laundry aside for later and went out in the back yard with him.

I was distracted last night, with many things on my mind. I have a trip to my parents’ house to get to this weekend, which I really don’t have time for. I need to wrap up the books before the trip there too. My sister-in-law, soon to be sister-OUT-law, is having a birthday next week and I really should get a card to send her since she still remembers all of us and sends gifts at holiday time. I’m overdue for my annual exam and I still need to find a new doctor since my old one retired. MBDog loves to drink out of the nasty stagnant rainwater puddle by the woodpile despite the fact that he has ample fresh water in his bowl, and now has a case of diarrhea to show for it that doesn't seem to be going away on its own. I thought about when we can get him into the vet. I milled over items for the weekly grocery run. I constructed a list of tasks I needed to address at the office in the morning.

Things of that nature. Things that make just enough noise in your head that you get in an absorbed thought zone and miss the details of the moment.

I turned these thoughts around in my brain as I absentmindedly pushed Incrediboy on the swing and we ran around and threw hoops on the basketball court and checked out all the usual stops in our yard.

Then, as Incrediboy scaled the rungs of the slide, he stopped and said, “Oh, LOOK! A WEURM!” I snapped out of my mental agenda and looked at where his little finger indicated. He was pointing to a tiny inchworm – make that half-inch worm :) – making its way up the side of the ladder. It was no bigger around than a pine needle, and its smooth, bright green body stood out vibrantly against the weathered gray timber of the swing set. Upon closer examination, I could see a butter colored line down its back, flanked in inky black pinstripes so thin they were was barely visible. He was a cute little guy.

Incrediboy informed me that his name was Slimy.

We watched Slimy for a while. He’d scooch a few times, raise his front end and wave it about madly and then settle it down again before repeating the move. Incrediboy was delighted. I placed my finger in front of Slimy. He climbed on and traversed his way along the side of my hand. He was so light that I couldn’t even feel him. Incrediboy squealed and insisted we go show Daddy.

We took Slimy to the barn, where Daddy was busy building shelves. Daddy stopped to see and was duly impressed. Incrediboy beamed, lapis eyes shining with excitement. We all decided to put Slimy back where he was, so he could go home to his family.

The evening’s activities commenced as they had before, but thanks to our little inchworm friend, I had switched gears.

The spring breeze, almost sickening-sweet with honeysuckle, danced across our skin and through our hair. I breathed the delicious smell in deep, until I could feel it in my blood. I became aware of the feeling of the grass as I sat at the base of the slide for Incrediboy to leap upon me when he reached the bottom. Cool. Scratchy. Dotted with remnants of the morning’s gentle rain. The faint smell of damp earth beneath. I heard the lush leaves whisper overhead in the wind’s path. Leaves which hadn’t yet burst out only a week or so before. As I lay back in our backyard meadow in between slides, I watched the thin film of clouds over our heads. They swirled gently and delicately, as if God were idly stirring cream in His coffee cup. Birds danced and shrieked in the air overhead. I felt heat roll off of MBDog as he did a fly-by, chuffing like a steam engine.

Incrediboy grabbed my thumb and drug me off to his next point of interest. His little hands were both warm and cool at the same time. I hadn’t noticed that before. His laughter released a swarm of butterflies in my heart.

My concerns of earlier were far, far away. I was only in the moment. And it was a pretty amazing place to be.