As deep as I ever went into the forest
I came upon an old stone bench, very, very old,
and around it a clearing, and beyond that
trees taller and older than I had ever seen.

Such silence!
It really wasn’t so far from a town, but it seemed
all the clocks in the world had stopped counting.
So it was hard to suppose the usual rules applied.

Sometimes there’s only a hint, a possibility.
What’s magical, sometimes, has deeper roots
than reason.
I hope everyone knows that.

I sat on the bench, waiting for something.
An angel, perhaps.
Or dancers with the legs of goats.

No, I didn’t see either. But only, I think, because
I didn’t stay long enough.
— Mary Oliver, Such Silence

Do you wonder at the world in the quiet moments alone with it? Awareness and presence bring us to a place where we may see magic hiding in plain site. Walking in the forest or on a lonely stretch of beach will open one’s eyes to wonder, but we may find it just about anywhere if we pay close enough attention.

Yesterday I turned a corner on my drive and was startled by a rainbow seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Now I know about water and light and such explanations, but these are merely technical matters of how and why. The world is not very fun when we seek an explanation for everything. Sometimes we ought to accept a little magic into our lives. For when we look around, it’s mostly all a miracle of timing and blessed luck that we are here, now, alive and dancing through this day together. Celebrate that vigorously.

Hours after that encounter with a rainbow, we met with old friends we don’t see enough of anymore. One bottle of wine led to another, we broke bread and didn’t count carbs or calories. There was magic around that table too, alive and swirling around us as a day we might remember one day when. Now mind you, I know that not everyone could see it, but I’m telling you it was there, flickering the candle flames and whispering, “Remember”. We will each move on with our lives for however how long we are blessed with, but that moment? It was ours together then and there.

What’s magical defies technical explanation, it’s a sensation of the moment; felt even as we grasp to hold onto it a beat longer.