Lotus

I saw a lotus up close today. I've seen them before (well at least I thought I had) but today I think I really saw a lotus. I am convinced that we miss things like this all the time. Perhaps we catalog all these inputs in our mind or memory somewhere without really having a deeper sensory understanding of the experience; Almost like seeing something without a context. If you think about what this simple plant does -- it is quite amazing and I am not sure why it never occurred to me before. A truly fascinating species of plant life. It was about 3 in the afternoon PST with a strong sun and a gently breeze. They grow in the shallow mud banks of ponds and rivers (or certain public gardens) and blossom into stunning flowers that appear perfectly suspended in water. (it almost sounds hard to imagine) I understand they open and close daily at sunrise and dusk like clocks. I closed my eyes and thought about that for a moment and reopened them today and there was the lotus gently swaying in the breeze right in front of me. You should see one for yourself.