Yesterday, during dusk, I was walking around on our land among Joshua Trees and creosote. It was a beautiful. The air was still and and it wasn't too chilly of an evening. The new moon was two nights ago and now a thin crescent was in the western sky. I can't believe I have the fortune of living here. It's a dream world. But it's real.
As I gazed up at that crescent moon, I noticed that there were hundreds of moths flying fifteen to thirty feet above the ground in the calm air. They were all flying in a single direction, to the north. I stood there watching them and wondering, do they do this every night at this time of year? How come I've never noticed them before? Where are they going?
I walked back up the land towards our little cabin, watching the moths. Once I was on our patio, I noticed that all the moths were gathering in and around our palo verde tree. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of them. The palo verde was covered in moths, reminding me of the way Monarch butterflies take over cedar trees to winter near Monterey and Carmel.
I've been seeing these moths around our patio for the last few weeks, but I had never witnessed them flying towards the tree or resting in it's branches. Up to this time, the moths had just been pests flying around my head and taking the occasional swim in my wine glass.
This was real life....whatever these moths were doing. It had been going on around me for sometime before I took notice. The stillness out here, and me taking the evening off of looking at my phone or computer, gave me the opportunity to observe them....I was paying attention to real life. My senses were picking up on the nature around me instead of being distracted by something arriving to my attention via satellite.
While you're here on this planet, don't forget to put your satellite connection down and soak up the realness around you.