The other day, I was taking a walk in a wooded area near my house, enjoying the spring weather. I had my trusty walk companion with me, as always. No, not a dog...my iPod. The song I was listening to at the time was "Straighten Up and Fly Right", an old swing tune that was composed by Nat King Cole. I like the positive message it conveyed, so it got added to my playlist. I was walking along the path, listening to the lyrics:
"A buzzard took monkey for a ride in the air
The monkey thought that everything was on the square
The buzzard tried to throw the monkey off his back...”
And just then, what do you suppose swooped across the path in front of me? A buzzard. I kid you not...a real-live honest-to-grossness buzzard. I mean, what are the chances of one of these nasty animals flying in front of you ANYTIME, much less when you're listening to a song that mentions buzzards? Freaky.
Turns out there was a deer carcass nearby, and apparently I'd stumbled upon the early bird special. I couldn't get over watching this creepy bird sitting on a limb waiting for me to either die or leave so he could finish his venison entree. I opted for the latter, and finished my walk on a different path.
I'm a sucker for irony, so I relished the moment of one of the best coincidences I'd had in quite awhile. And in order to derive some deeper meaning from the experience, I thought about how I had been enjoying the beauty of the spring day and the morning sun until something really hideous appeared. Pondering on it a bit longer, I thought that this was a good lesson in perspective. How many times do I let something bad take center stage on a day that's really going quite well otherwise? In other words, do I let minor negative things outshine the overtly positive? It's all a matter of perspective.
I also learned it doesn't hurt to walk fast and glance backward every now and then.
