One day a young girl  named Mary was walking to school.  She was in elementary school and walked every day to school, unless it was snowing.  On those days her mother would give her a ride.   Sometimes, though, she would get to school much before the doors opened, because her mother dropped her off on her way to work, which started much earlier than school.  On rather snowy days when the school started later, that presented a bit of a challenge for the mother.  Sometimes a neighbor would drop Mary off at school on those days with a “delayed start.”

On this day, though, Mary was walking as usual to school when she noticed a rather large tree somewhat off of her path, that she had not seen before.   She walked past that tree hundreds of times, but never really noticed it.   It was new to her,  today, so she decided to take a little detour and go check it out.  She figured she had a few extra minutes so she could still make it to school on time.

When she touched the tree she looked up.  It was a massive oak tree.  She could see the little acorns around the trunk of the tree.  She looked at the girth of the tree and tried to put her arms around it.  She estimated that it would take four or five of her friends and her to fully encompass the outside of the tree.  “Wow, how could I have never seen you before?” she asked.  “You are beautiful.”   She realized that she spent more time with the tree than she had available, so she ran the rest of the way to school.

On her way home, she decided to go check in on “her tree.”  This time she had over an hour before her mother would be home, so she took off her backpack, and sat on the ground and leaned against the tree.  Eventually, she moved her backpack to use as a pillow and she took a nap under the tree.

When she awoke, she opened her eyes without moving her body and noticed the tree was “alive” with activity.  She could see squirrels playing, chipmunks, and even a mouse or two were all running around the branches of the tree.  She watched them being careful not to move and startle the little creatures.  Then she noticed there was a hole in the tree where many of the creatures apparently lived.   She closed her eyes, and wondered what their lives were like.

“What do they do in the snow?”  she thought.  “I  bet that hole runs throughout the tree so they all have a place to live and keep warm during the winter.”  She was amazed to think about this little world that she was once oblivious to see.   “I wonder how many other worlds there are out there like this one that are right in front of me, but are outside my view?”  she thought.

One night she talked her mother into visiting “her tree” with her.  They brought a picnic for supper and placed a blanket at the base of the tree.   Mary and her mom laid on their backs staring up at the tree, as Mary explained how all of the animals live inside the tree.  She even gave most of them names.  Her mother, too, was amazed not only at the tree, but at how Mary noticed all of this going on.   She thought to herself, “I have driven past this tree for years and never even noticed it.  How did Mary find it and decide to take the time to really see it?”

As they laid on their blanket, the skies grew darker as the sun descended in the horizon.   They cuddled up to keep warm as the night started to reveal the distant stars.   They looked at those stars and wondered about other “worlds” and imagined what they were like.   Then they decided to make a pact to see what was in their own world, and to understand that they never really see everything there is around them.

Mary looked a few yards away, and saw a large ant hill.  The ants were sleeping now, but she could imagine what their world was like.  Then they started playing a game, trying to find other worlds right in their sights.  They saw holes in the ground for rodents and snakes.  They saw many worlds in all.

Then they started to wonder about the worlds of people in their own neighborhood and at school.  Mary wondered about the neighbor that drives her to school on snow delayed days.  “Mom, does Mr. Wilkers have a family?”  “I don’t know dear, he keeps to himself.”  “Well, the next time I see him, I’m going to find out.”

A few months later, it snowed and Mr. Wilkers gave Mary a ride to school.  Mary found out all about him in a short period of time, and invited herself over to his house after school.  She discovered that his wife had died many years ago and his two grown children lived far away.   She also took the liberty to invite him to their house for Thanksgiving.

Mary’s mom was a little surprised at the invitation, but realized that Mary was introducing her to “new worlds” and opening up her life.   They had a wonderful holiday and Mr. Wilkers and Mary became lifelong friends.

Mary grew up and moved away from home when she attended college.  She eventually became a college professor in astronomy.  She wanted to expose as many people as possible to the worlds afar, but more importantly to the ones right in front of us that we never see.

InspiraCard

It is wonderful to travel the Earth and to see many cultures and many different landscapes.  However, we must understand that there are many things to see and experience right in your own lands.

Written Tue Nov 19, 2013