Date: Fri 13-Dec-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDREA

Quick Words:

Gifts-Christmas-Journal

Full Text:

STD HD: REPORTERS' JOURNAL The Many Gifts We Overlook

B Y A NDREA Z IMMERMANN

Like toy train cars held together by magnets, the trail of traffic inched

forward in unison past the Christmas Tree Farm until the front cars peeled off

into gaps on the windy roadside. Our parking space was down a hill from the

farm, near some scenic country homes.

The sun was bright and warm and the hills had plenty of snow for making angel

imprints and packing into balls. I scooped up my nephew, Dylan, who is just

shy of three, onto my hip and away from traffic. We started up the hill

towards the trees. Suddenly, he began wiggling and waving a finger over my

shoulder; he could barely get the words out for his excitement: a reindeer .

We turned to see a delicate sleek brown creature standing in the snow under a

wide branching tree. "That's a dog," my sister explained to her son.

"I don't know," I said. "It looks like a reindeer to me ."

"It might be a reindeer," agreed my brother-in-law, Bob.

Threading our way through traffic, we proceeded into the woods to find "the

perfect tree." We adults found great pleasure in the view, the scent of fresh

cut evergreen, and good feeling that was exchanged between strangers. It was a

relief from the craziness of the holiday planning and shopping. But Dylan was

oblivious to all that because for him, the extraordinary is the stuff his life

is made of.

As adults, we tend to say these are the miracles of childhood. One of the

definitions of "miracle" is: an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing,

or accomplishment. Although they have no prescribed rate of occurance,

miracles seem to diminish as we age.

We create fantastic stories about a bearded fat man squeezing down chimneys to

add suspense to our children's holiday, and we watch old television movies

about adults undergoing some dramatic transformation on or near The Big Day.

These once-a-year, or once-in-a-cinema-character's-lifetime occurances may

warm us momentarily, but what about the other 364 days?

Miracles are a result of the way in which we view the world, and that's why

they may be found in every hour of childhood. They come about through

awareness of what is around us right this moment - the present, not the past

or future. While rushing around with our lists of things to do, it may

surprise us to find a small miracle unfolding next to us in line or in the

middle of rush-hour traffic. If only we notice it.

Two weeks ago, when I gave Dylan an advent calendar, he took the

plastic-wrapped cardboard and with sparkling eyes, thanked me for whatever it

was I had just given him. He didn't know what a calendar was, or that he would

find a piece of chocolate hidden behind each numbered door. But he knew it was

something I had picked out just for him.

Although childhood seems to be a series of magic moments strung like popcorn

and cranberries and suspended in time, the wonder need not be lost in

maturation. It took a three-year-old to remind me the unusual can be found in

the ordinary, and delight in what we cannot fully comprehend. Like the miracle

of spotting a reindeer under a tree, the gift of awareness can be a present we

give to ourselves and to others each moment of our lives.