7:30 BELLS: Treasure Underneath

To see what’s underneath, children turn things over—rocks, pots, shoes. The underneath is where secrets and wonders hide. Children know this because they grow up looking up—at the undersides of tables, the underbellies of blankets, the undertow of clouds. Most of all, children know this because they hide underneath things, too. 

By turning life over to look underneath, I can make my writing richer, my days richer.  I discovered this in two ways this past week.  

First: I sat outside basking in the first glorious day of spring. In one corner of my terrace a small red leaf maple tree grows in a pot.  The tops of the leaves shone brightly in the sunlight, but the undersides of the leaves glowed a vibrant ruby red. Brightness is lovely, but the richness and blood come from underneath. Light is needed for both, though.

Second: On the next glorious day, I swung in my hammock under the rogue cherry tree in our back yard. As I rocked myself into a rapture of quiet, I noticed that the black-veined branches were like the leaded framework in a stained glass window, the blossoms and blue sky the colored glass. I was looking at the world from underneath, through a stained glass window of spring. When the wind rose, the stained glass window began to snow—showering down blossoms to make a blanket over me. 

The trick is to open your mind to the idea that there is an underneath--in places you might not think to look for one.  So what treasure might be waiting undiscovered beneath a blanket of blossoms? If I find out, I’ll let you know.

LORE OF THE BELL: 

Look at the world from underneath

to hear the bells ring.