the sense of wonder
I took the dog out this morning well before the sun came up, which afforded me an excellent view of the lunar eclipse....as I scooped poop. The timing was perfect. I didn't have to do anything special...no preparation. Of course, I figured as much yesterday when I heard it was going to happen. I thought, I ought to be out with the dog about then, and I was. I just went about my daily routine and there it was to greet my morning.
I almost missed the purpose of my being there in the first place, staring up at the beauty in the sky. Not to worry, though. We left no neighbor's yard messier than we found it.
What surprised me though was the youngster's reaction. When I came in the house with the dog, he was toasting a bagel and I said, "Hey, the lunar eclipse is out there. You can see it over the back yard."
"OK"
"Well, are you going to look? It's a no effort thing. Just walk out and it's there."
"I'm OK, dad."
So I explained what was happening, and how cool it looks out there, and he gave me this look like....if I go outside and see the thing, will you please drop it? He went out, looked at it and...
"I saw it. Can I go eat breakfast, now?"
Sometimes I think this world of video games and movie special effects has just sucked the sense of wonder out of our kids. Really impressive, beautiful stuff garners less than a yawn. When that's the reaction I get from a lunar eclipse, I can't help but feel like the youngster's been robbed by technology. It's kinda like the Toyota commercial where the father spends three weeks building his kid a tree house, and the boy would rather hang in their minivan because it has leather seats and a DVD player. You're a boy with a tree house, and you'd rather play cards in a minivan? What's happening to our kids?
I almost missed the purpose of my being there in the first place, staring up at the beauty in the sky. Not to worry, though. We left no neighbor's yard messier than we found it.
What surprised me though was the youngster's reaction. When I came in the house with the dog, he was toasting a bagel and I said, "Hey, the lunar eclipse is out there. You can see it over the back yard."
"OK"
"Well, are you going to look? It's a no effort thing. Just walk out and it's there."
"I'm OK, dad."
So I explained what was happening, and how cool it looks out there, and he gave me this look like....if I go outside and see the thing, will you please drop it? He went out, looked at it and...
"I saw it. Can I go eat breakfast, now?"
Sometimes I think this world of video games and movie special effects has just sucked the sense of wonder out of our kids. Really impressive, beautiful stuff garners less than a yawn. When that's the reaction I get from a lunar eclipse, I can't help but feel like the youngster's been robbed by technology. It's kinda like the Toyota commercial where the father spends three weeks building his kid a tree house, and the boy would rather hang in their minivan because it has leather seats and a DVD player. You're a boy with a tree house, and you'd rather play cards in a minivan? What's happening to our kids?
Labels: Philosophy
John put this out here at 6:52 AM
1 Comments:
It was incredible. I woke up coughing (seems my head congestion is moving to my chest) and remembered it when I was in the kitchen soaking up cough medicine. So I put on my flip flops and went out to see if I could see it over all the pines outside.
What a vision!
Post a Comment
<< Home