The Hunt

 "Violet, where is Levi?"

"He was up at the barn."

"He was?  But isn't Daddy done feeding the cows yet?"

"Yes."

"Well, then what is Levi doing?"

"I don't know."

 My son is the quiet, busy child,

usually doing something

which is unexpected.

 "I see a cat up there

and the dog,

so he must be nearby."

 Something about Levi

attracts the animals. 

I think it's because he doesn't bother with them

except to feed them or pet them once in a while.

A cat can usually be found snoozing on the couch beside him

when he's engrossed in a dinosaur book.

"Hello, Moon.

Where is Levi?"

 "There you are.

I've been wondering where you went.

What's Daddy doing?

Why didn't you come down to the house?

 Supper is almost ready."

"You left the lid off on the snake container.

 You're going to lose that snake like you did the other if you 

don't remember to close it up.

Are you listening to me?...

What are you staring at on the well house?"

 "I'm watching the bees go in and out of the holes."

 Then I noticed them:

dancing and buzzing

and darting in the breeze:

a ballet of dips and dives.

 

Tiger was clapping at them with her paws...

 like a reckless child with fearless curiosity.

There's no need for sports in a stadium

with a cheering crowd

and loud speakers.

Just the soft warm grass of a carpeted lawn

and the distant hum

of a lawn mower.

He's lost in deep thoughts,

not watching

circus performing acts of grand scale

or a zoo

or amusement park;

but with the companionship of little cats,

he delights at watching the bees fly 

in reckless abandon

and then gracefully land at 

the bee-sized hole and disappear

in an instant.

Oh, how I love this age:

the simplistic entertainment of a four year old boy and his "friends."

 

"The best things in life are nearest:

  Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand,

the path of right just before you.

Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes,

certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life."

~Robert Louis Stevenson

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