beautiful minutae

my neighbor and i started carpooling in the morning since our daughters attend the same school. it was my turn today, so i had the pleasure of being in a car with two giggling seven-year-olds for roughly 10 minutes. the things that amuse them are...well, amusing. today's topic turned to voodoo dolls, which evolved somehow from food fights. i just smiled wide as they imitated the ants from a bug's life, saying, "die! die! die!"

we got to school and they were getting ready to get out of the car. i turned around and told them that they were morbid. my neighbor's daughter asked, "what does that mean?" i told both of them to go look it up - it could be their new word for the day. i wonder if they'll even think twice about it.

on my way home, i took my time, trying to be more mindful of what was going on around me. i saw a cloud that looked like a heart with a crack right down the middle. as i pulled into my driveway, i saw about 20 little birds in my neighbors' dug-up flowerbed. i think they were hopping around, looking for bugs. i was struck with a sudden sadness as i wondered how much beauty i had missed out on in my 34 years of being preoccupied by things that really don't matter at all.