Everything about the morning had been ordinary. As usual I was walking my dog Zoe down a well worn path through the woods when unexpectedly, on a small rise next to a sturdy ponderosa pines we were met with a gusty breeze. I stopped. It was as if Mickey Mouse, the sorcerer’s apprentice in Fantasia, his long sleeves falling down around him, frantically waving his master’s magic wand, was conjuring up a whirlwind of the pieces of my life … 

Unruly hair blew back from my face, while the blustery wind brushed away everything mundane. In a heartbeat I felt my senses quicken and suddenly everything changed: chirping nuthatches became an orchestra performing on a stage of swaying grasses and whispering leaves. I breathed anew like a babe and could actually smell the green. Unwilling to move from where I was standing, I swear I felt the pulse of the living earth beneath my feet.

It was only a moment, a brief snapshot from the feature length film of my life. I suddenly became aware that every turn I’d taken, every decision I’d made, every dream I’d hoped for, every heartbreaking sorrow I’d endured, every desperate whispered prayer I’d uttered in solitude drew together. In that instant I knew every beat of my heart had led me to the very place I was standing. It was extraordinary and completely ordinary. Commonplace all at once.

It seemed as if nothing had happened, for it hadn’t, really. It was simply a typical morning activity. Something I’d done countless times before. Yet, I had an unexpected happiness, kind of like the feeling I get when I come home from being away and my big beautiful Zoe greets me with happy whimpers … 

I wonder if some of the most significant insights in life wash over us gently, so understated that perhaps they might even go unnoticed. Then without knowing why, we feel better about our lives. Things make sense. Perhaps it’s a human inclination to expect fireworks, or at least a drum roll to accompany extraordinary moments. Maybe that happens. The opposite might also be true … that remarkable awareness blooms quietly and sweetly like jasmine letting loose of it’s fragrant secrets in the light of the moon.

A few miles from where I live there is a thriving community of farmers called the Greenbluff Growers. They host an Octoberfest. As leaves show off their brilliant colors you drive through twisting roads over rolling hills to arrive at a number of orchards and farms boasting sugary ripe apples, fat orange pumpkins, and mountains of squash. Hot cider and warm pumpkin donuts are a must while bumping along on a hayride as well as taking on the traditional 5 acre corn maze.

This maze, like life, is serious. It’s possible to get fairly disoriented and there’s no map, Siri or Alexa to help you out. Navigating the maze is a matter of trial and error, memory, and mostly, keeping your cool. The surfers on the North shore of Hawaii are known to say, “Cool head, main thing.” Probably good advice when you’re up against enormous swells threatening to engulf you or when you are surrounded by a sea of dense corn stalks. Panic and you go down the same corn row time after time finding only dead ends.

I couldn’t hazard a guess at how many times I’ve felt up against something like one of those dead ends. How many times I’ve made the same mistake and wondering if I’d ever learn. Absolutely sure that I’d, once again made a complete mess of my life; all my faults and inadequacies pounding down on my head like a hammer drill. 

How is it possible that on an ordinary day all my failures and mishaps add up to a moment when, in the woods walking my dog, I am given a glance behind the veil. A chance to see that all the pieces have actually fallen together perfectly. A beautiful, tailor made life sewn together with the rags, and frayed threads of my too often poor judgment. I can’t explain it.

I can’t make sense of my good fortune, I can only be grateful. I can do all I am able to with all that I am to pour back into this crazy world as much goodness as possible. Along the way I’ve adopted my credit union’s tag line, “Do Good, Feel Good.” You know what? It works. 

The wind died down and without warning my glimpse behind the veil evaporated like a fragile morning mist in the rising sun. In true doggie fashion Zoe had been captivated by a clump of dried grass on the side of the trail while I was touched by magic. Undoubtedly some creature ran through the woods in the dark of night and brushed it’s furry coat on the grass leaving an intoxicating scent. Finished with her investigation, my keen companion looked up at me with those soulful eyes issuing a wordless plea to get going. After all, we were on a walk, and it was just an ordinary day.