I went outside for my morning cigarette about 10am. Before you say “Go you!”, bear in mind that I only got out of bed about twenty minutes ago, so this isn’t exactly something to celebrate. (If I’d been up at 6* and not had my first cigarette until 10, mild celebration might be in order.)
The crisp morning air slapped my sluggish brain cells to attention, and the jolt of nicotine soon brought the gears in my head up to full speed. Pacing back and forth on the concrete driveway of my apartment building, I ruminated on random thoughts, trying to forge connections between a plethora of disparate concepts and ideas.
My musings were interrupted by a couple approaching on the sidewalk: an older man, call him mid-fifties, with a cap of dull white hair and a stomach that spoke to a keen love of gravy, accompanied by his slightly younger-looking wife. (In this day and age, guessing ages, especially with women, is an exceedingly delicate matter best approached with generosity, if at all.) The man was staring at his smart phone, tapping the screen occasionally and frowning, while the woman peered around her, apparently content to simply be where she was.
Then she stopped and waved at her husband. He paid no attention, lost in whatever he was doing on his phone.
“Honey!” she called.
No answer.
“Honey!” she said again, this time with a slight imperative edge in her voice.
He looked up.
“What?”
“You’re missing that squirrel!” she exclaimed, pointing to the tree overshadowing the north half of the driveway.
I don’t make it a habit to eavesdrop, but when you’re three paces away, it’s kind of hard not to. Despite myself I glanced at the tree, while the couple stopped in their tracks and looked up into the branches, presumably looking for the creature in question. Then I turned and paced a discreet distance away, to give them at least the illusion of privacy.
The odd thing is, that simple observation triggered an entirely new avalanche of images and ideas in my mind. It’s strange how such random, simple things can create inspiration.
I wonder how often we miss something really remarkable. An unusually beautiful or brilliant rainbow. The silent, ominous majesty of storm clouds building on the horizon, their bottoms flaring with heat lightning. A squirrel, going about its business of collecting food for the long, cold winter to come. A significant look from a lover. We miss these things while checking email, reading a blog post, watching TV, or texting someone endless variations on “LOL!”
One hopes your version of LOL did not look anything like this one…
I’m not saying technology is entirely to blame. After all, without tech, gentle reader, you and I wouldn’t be having this heart to heart, hmm? At the same time, though, I have to wonder how many natural wonders we as people miss every day in our wind sprint to get somewhere with a WiFi connection, to find out what our friends (or enemies) are up to on Facebook, or to see the latest cat video on YouTube. I often ask myself, for all the things I catch online through my own efforts or those of others, how many things in the real world I’ve overlooked in the frenetic rush to get out the next story, article, essay, or academic paper. I think sometimes about things I might have missed without even realizing it, things that could have had immense positive ramifications for me or even changed the course of my life between one breath and the next.
Today, I have commitments to honor, and honor them I will.
However, tomorrow is mine. I’m going to take a hike (something that serves a dual purpose, as I have a looming assignment in Geology lab that requires doing), stay well away from the computer, and concentrate on getting myself and my head in order for the next three weeks. If there’s one good thing about November that’s NOT NaNoWriMo, it’s knowing that I will have almost a full week off school to recover and do some things I want to do before the frenzy of the end of the semester begins. There just might be a chance that I’ll find my own squirrel. 
In the meantime, stop back Monday, when I give the rundown of some exciting new developments in the Land of Spork!
Until next time,
Best,
J.S. Wayne
*[like that is remotely realistic unless I have an extremely pressing reason, like insider knowledge that the world will fucking end in ten minutes]
**Oh, come on. You didn’t think I was going to go through all that and not lay out SOME snark, did you? 
Enjoy the squirrels!
EDT: Please note that my update on what’s going on where with me will have to wait until Tuesday. Tomorrow I have a very special guest author, so please stop by and check her out!
