HIS EYES
pk potts
My eyes have brought me joy and pleasure, pain and sorrow, feast and famine, trouble and relief.
I have witnessed so many things living on this earth for almost 70 years. From black and white TV to color. To man walking on the moon, to the assassination of the best, the bold, and the beautiful. From the days of unlocked doors, to fear on all fronts, from 10 cents to call your fellow in a phone booth and long cords on wall-mounted telephones to small computers held in your hand. From talking face to face to reading texts in your hand. Love comes in many forms.
Technology, political views, racial and social unjustice are things my eyes struggle with. Sometimes I close my eyes because the pain is too much to see.
I am thankful for the beauty I behold in my aging friend’s faces. I am held breathless gazing at the wonder of an infant, standing beside the foot of the mighty sea, seeing nature in all her glory. Watching clouds. Watching birds at the feeder. Hummingbird wars.
Recently I was held captive by pain on a plane. I had fallen while on vacation in Michigan and was on my way back to Charleston with what I learned later was three fractures in my back. So I was annoyed when a family with a small child settled next to me. I turned inward in silence, alone and determined to suffer without contact or comment.
But the young father bouncing his daughter caused her to giggle. I had to turn my head to gaze on this delightful sound. The baby held out her little hand to me and I forgot my pain. I listened as this young mother poured her heart out to me describing the disease that had recently inflicted her, stealing her motherhood. They were traveling to John Hopkins in search of a miracle. We all cried together, prayed together and they became a family to me.
It amazes me to this day what God can do when we step outside of our own limited vision and OPEN OUR EYES to God’s view of those around us.
Your eyes can witness miracles.
My eyes do.
I see it in the faces and hear it in the voices of everyone I meet.
PACIFIC REBELLION
pk potts
It began as a game between me and Tye. And now I’ve been branded an outlaw.
My name is Pye, so you can immediately imagine the connection between Tye and myself. However, there’s always so much more to the story, so let me begin with mine.
I live in the Monterey Bay Aquarium and I’m a giant Pacific Octopus. I was once very small and could fit into the tiniest places, which of course led to my capture. To this day, I can’t stand the sight of a wine bottle.
When I was captured, I had crawled inside a broken wine bottle to take a nap. Imagine my surprise when I woke up inside a fishing vessel, tossed aside like a bit of trash, while the humans scoured their nets for edible creatures. Knowing I might become one of the edible creatures, I made my way below deck to find a place to hide.
Don’t ask me why I didn’t scramble over the side and back into the sea. Apparently one of my 9 brains wasn’t functioning properly. Octopi have 9 brains, one central and 8 that control our tentacles. I’ve always had one rogue brain, with a rebellious streak that is hard to tame. Who knew that it would put me in the dilemma I now face.
Anyway the day I was captured I remember vividly. I had made my way into the vessel galley and was exploring all the nooks and crannies, when a smell captivated me. I crawled up on the table and was exploring this mysterious and delicious smell, had just dipped my rebellious tentacle into the dish I was sprawled across and had just lifted it to my orifice (mouth) for you humans, when I heard someone cry out, “there’s a baby octopus on top of our blueberry pie!”
To this day, I can’t abide blueberries, although I’m never offered the choice.
Anyway, thus my name, Pye.
Tye, the small errant tyke who often came to visit me at the aquarium was becoming more and more fascinated with me with every visit. I must admit I secretly craved his devotion and crawled close to the edge whenever he was here.
On this particular day his mum was deep in conversation with a handsome sailor and Tye had climbed up over the enclosure and thrust his little arm into my tank and was waving wildly.
I thought to wave back, but that rebellious tentacle thought to pull the boy in for a bit of a splash down.
Imagine the horror of his poor mum when Tye began to yell and pull back. One brain was saying, ‘let go of the lad’ and the other was, ‘I wonder how he tastes.’ My central brain said, ‘Sigh.’
So there was quite a tug-o-war between mum, 2 staff members and my one rebellious tentacle.
So now I’ve been branded an outlaw. They’re putting a grilled grate over my tank. I do believe I see a chink in their plan, however.
Sigh.
