The Extraordinary Ordinary
Taking a closer look
Denny Murawska
Years ago something occurred that struck me as a revelation. It had to do with a certain bird that flew into the yard and perched on a nearby tree. I don’t remember what I was doing at the time, but an almost urgent voice from my wife, Susan, prompted me to come quickly to see something. This has happened on numerous instances. I hoped it would be something epic, like the time a black bear crawled up a tree next to our raised porch.
As it turns out, the commotion was all over a “bird full of a rainbow of colors that was just beautiful, unbelievable!” It was a starling. Being close enough to see the iridescence radiating from the very ordinary visitor, it dawned on me that this bird was indeed a special sight to behold. It was not black. It reflected the full spectrum of color all about itself like some dark rainbow. To Susan, it was a spectacular discovery. For me, it became one as well. Seeing the childlike innocence of her excitement lit a spark in my own perception of the world.
We are all transfixed by the majesty of an eagle soaring above and slam on the brakes to view a stately buck nibbling some twigs along the roadside. Yet what we view as ordinary and mundane often never warrants a second glance. Dandelions splash the fields of spring with color, but we disregard them as mere weeds. Moths press against the bark of trees and even the doors of our home, almost invisible in their perfect camouflage. Look closely. Before you is perfection. Often they are swatted away without a second glance. We find so many things unworthy of the time it takes to learn their names and habits. It is a worthy endeavor to find out those names and identifying characteristics and bid each life form its due.
Zoom in with a ten-power lens and other worlds reveal themselves. The delicate spore cases waving above moss plants that fire reproductive spores into the air. A myriad of tiny decomposers going about their business in a rotting log. Get in close. Crawl if you must. Lose yourself in a world unrevealed except to those who make the effort to penetrate its mysteries.
What could be more unworthy of attention than a forest puddle full of slimy green algae? For less than the cost of a small flat screen television you can open a world of single-celled organisms more fascinating and bizarre than your wildest dreams. Plantlike diatoms that live in scintillating glass houses much like delicate snowflakes. Predators with alien names like Didinium hunt down prey, as does the graceful but deadly Lacrymaria.
So in the course of your days make an effort to stop and examine the small, the seemingly inconsequential and the ordinary. Look closely. Take your time. It will be well spent.
Denny Murawska has been a contributor to the wacky UP Magazine, Wishigan, Verse Wisconsin, and The Pulse. His church is the pine cathedral that surrounds him at his home near Black River Falls.