by Alison
a stick goes over the falls at sunset
- Cor Van Den Heuvel
An ordinary event. A stick goes over a waterfall and it is wonderful. And of course this makes me think of Kelly.
Kelly and I have had some unusual experiences, together for sure. But sometimes the ordinary is just as 
grand. And it was on one of our first outings together in a tiny little suburb outside of Buenos Aires, that I saw Kelly become entranced with a doorknob. And trace the outline of a doorbell. And the stately knocker as well. All giggles and wiggles, Kelly was fascinated by the intricate design and elegant presence of these door ornaments. I think she stood there for ten minutes, smiling and marveling over this doorknob in a small town that I can otherwise not remember.
Damn, I wish I had a picture of that doorknob.
But let me get to my point. It was just a doorknob and yet Kelly noticed it. And when she pointed it out, I had to admit - It was gorgeous! And we stopped to contemplate the wonder of some anonymous craftsman putting all that work and artistic integrity into a doorknob. Humanity seemed quite amazing at this moment.
Now let’s contrast this experience with my first two minutes visiting the Grand Canyon years earlier. I got off the bus and walked to the railed edge, looked out into the vast canyon and felt…. disappointment.
- This is not THE doorknob but a wondrous doorknob, nonetheless.
Disappointed that it would be hard to imagine anything more amazing, and yet…. I couldn’t connect with it anymore than a postcard. I was expecting, I think, to feel an epiphany. Was it expectations that interrupted the wonder?
Well, it took me a while to get past my expectations. It wasn’t until I left the vista and started a 5 hour trek down into the canyon that I really started to feel entirely blessed to be there. And truly see the WONDER.
And this is why I feel blessed to have Kelly as my friend. Spend a day with Kelly and you will witness a person who sees and feels wonder beyond what I have experienced with any other person I have ever met. It’s a beautiful quality to be around and completely infectious. And it is a reminder for me to open myself to the wonder that is out there - in a canyon, in a stick floating in water and even in a doorknob.
Find Haiku Mind on Amazon:
Haiku Mind: 108 Poems to Cultivate Awareness and Open Your Heart
Wonder haiku excerpted from Haiku Mind by Patricia Donegan, (c) 2008. Published by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston. www.Shambhala.com.
Friends appreciate
and pass on to me, wonders
which I could not see.
Comment by Bob Klemow — March 27, 2009 @ 8:07 am
I so do not remember this. But it totally sounds like me. I did go through an “appreciating doorknobs” stage.
That was back before digital cameras and I just had a cheapo point and shoot 35 millimeter. It wasn’t very sophisticated in its picture taking, and neither was I.
I took lots of close up pictures of doorknobs and doorknockers, but most of them turned out blurry.
Was this that train trip we took we Tomas? The Evita train?
Comment by Kelly — March 27, 2009 @ 9:11 am
This was a trip before the Evita trip. But where in the world did we go and why? I have no idea.
Comment by Alison — March 28, 2009 @ 7:58 pm
Maybe it was our trek to the “Jewish” part of town. Remember we went to go and find the temple that had been bombed?
Comment by Kelly — March 29, 2009 @ 7:55 am