by Brian Dean
I walked across the grassy
area to the path and the small bridge that would take me over the stream to the
park. I could feel the softness of each
step in the cushy grass as I moved forward with purpose. I set foot upon the wooden bridge feeling no
give as I started to make my way over.
At the halfway point, I paused to look down into the low water, and I
could make out small fish moving just above the muddy bottom. I walked to the other side and peered down
and saw bigger fish moving, hunting food.
One looked like the one fish in my aquarium, the one that cleans stuff
off the bottom. I continued on, walking
across the bridge and traveled into the park.
I found a bench under an awning providing shade, and parked myself.
It really was a nice morning
to be here. The temperature was about
80º (much cooler than it had been) and there was a nice breeze. The sound of the closest fountain spraying
water up and out in a circular pattern was extremely pleasant. Although I have had my business next to this
park for some seven years now, I have never ventured into it until this
morning. There are many paths of streams with two large circular ponds, each with a fountain in them. The bench I had parked myself on was on a
peninsula between two streams and with a pond at the tip. There is playground equipment a ways across
the one stream, and tennis courts in the distance beyond the pond. Getting to either would require crossing
another bridge.
As I looked into the pond, I
could see an egret standing in the water near the edge, calmly looking and
waiting for something to come swimming by.
I noticed a pair of brown ducks making their way from the pond and into
the stream, heading away from the fountain toward where I was sitting. The whole place said calm. I took a couple deep breaths and let myself
settle into the energies that were there.
My gaze followed the stream up from the two ducks to closer to where I
was sitting, seeing the movement of the water and the ripples left from
whatever was swimming in it. As I got to
a patch of vegetation, I noticed there were more ducks. The more I looked, the more I noticed. Not only were there four or five ducks there,
but further up there were another three by another patch of vegetation along
with more now swimming out into the open.
Even though I knew they were paddling underneath, their movement looked
so effortless as they calmly swam through the water. Amid all the brown ducks sat one bigger,
white one that had been accepted as part of the group.
As I looked further up the
stream, I saw this huge turtle sitting on the bank. I got up to get a better look at it, but the
movement made him uneasy enough that he went back into the water. I apologized and went back to my seat.
I watched four ladies playing
tennis in the distance, and the mothers with their babies and small children in
the play area. At one point, one of the
mothers brought some bread over and gave it to her two children to throw to the
ducks. This caused a mass exodus of
ducks from the pond almost to the feet of the children. They all crowded around, each getting a piece
of bread.
As this was going on, there
was a honking sound from above and a flock of fifteen or more geese flew over,
then circled to land in the nearest pond.
They settled in to what they wanted to do until one noticed that the
ducks were getting fed. There was more
honking and the geese started walking over in single file toward where the
ducks were. It was almost like they were
telling the people to save some bread for them.
But the children ran out of bread before the geese could arrive. As the children walked off, the geese stopped
and changed course heading into the water where they preened themselves and
scouted for food. The ducks also quietly
returned to the water, one not so quiet.
During all this, there were
pigeons coming and going, some landing on the roof above my head, their feet
scratching on the metal as they scrambled to hang on to the sloped siding. There was a hawk flying in the distance. The big, billowy clouds passed by so slowly
as they crossed the sky on their way to somewhere else.
With each moment, I took in
the peacefulness of the scene, the sereneness of my surroundings, and the calm
in the sounds of the water and the touch of the breeze. And I was at peace. When something related to any problems I had
came to mind, I was distracted by being drawn to something new I hadn't seen a
moment before. Whenever my mind
wandered, something brought me back to 'here' at the park, whether that was a
movement by someone or something there, or a change in the sound of the sprayed
water falling on the pond, or a duck that decided to make its presence
known. Sitting 'here', I had no problems,
no other thoughts except being here and being a part of the calm around
me. And while I came to the park with purpose (to find some calming), that purpose vanished as calming erased it.
This is what we need to do
now and then to clear our minds of all the things that are being processed at
any one moment, to renew the positive energies, and remove the negative. In a way, it is a meditation in physical
form. Meditation can help keep inner
calm, but sometimes, one simply needs to get out of the everyday environment,
and go somewhere and let that place fill them with peace. Go. Do
something different, yet pleasant. Find
peace. Make the time. You'll feel better for it.
