Thursday, June 28, 2012

Phil.

My grandpa liked to sit outside and look at things.  He would sit on his front porch and watch the rain.  He'd sit outside during the worst storms.  Actually got a zap from a flash of lightning once.  Made his hand go numb for a little bit.  He never said much...he would just sit...and watch. 

He would sit under a tree in his yard, on a bench by the river, in a lawn chair overlooking his garden.  He loved sitting outside and looking.

When he would visit us at my mom & dad's, he would take his gun and walk back in the woods where there was a little bench nailed to a hickory tree.  He built it, if I'm not mistaken.  He would sit on his bench and watch the trees and the weather and the wildlife.  Sometimes he would shoot a rabbit or a squirrel, but more times than not he would just sit there and look.

He would ask me to come sit with him.  I had no idea what we were looking at or why we were sitting instead of watching TV or playing.  He tried, but the sitting never lasted too long--I was too young to appreciate the solitude and life happening all around me.  So I'd go watch Godzilla vs. Mothra on channel 11.

I used to think grandpa was just antisocial or trying to get away from my granny or all the grandkids--which may be partially true--but now I get it.  Sitting outside and looking at things is fantastic. 

The older I get, the more I appreciate witnessing the subtleties all around me.  Things that we take for granted, that we overlook or just don't care about.  I don't really feel like waxing poetic about the wind and rain and trees and animals....but it's what I like looking at.  It makes me appreciate, it makes me feel alive, it makes me calm, and it makes me happy.

It may sound stupid to you, but I really like sitting outside and looking at things. 

Must have gotten that from Phil.

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