This photo comes from a perfect April morning at the St. Louis Zoo. A fantastic visit with my sister-in-law Sarah had sadly come to an end and we had reluctantly driven to St. Louis to take her to the airport. We arose early in the morning to save some of the day for play with Sarah before she flew out that afternoon. We stopped in Columbia for a quick breakfast at Panera and then rushed to the zoo. We arrived not long after they opened the gates and it was a magical morning with the zoo nearly to ourselves. We lingered at the penguin exhibit, saw all of the bears, took a ride on the zoo train, visited the insectarium and the butterfly house, and caught most of the wild animals out of their caves and roaming about. We even indulged the children with a ride on the zoo carousel. I didn't think the day could get much more perfect until we headed up the hill towards the south gate. It was there that the children spotted it: a just-in-bloom, perfect "popcorn tree". We've been singing "Popcorn Popping" since January-- futilely trying to coax the blossoms of spring closer with each rendition-- but this was the first actual blossoms we had spotted all year. I'm honestly not sure who was more excited about it- the children or I! The tree had the perfect low branches and we posed the children endlessly, snapping away here and there with the camera-- trying to get the perfect picture-- and then, it hit me. As I looked through my viewfinder at the precious angels before me it felt like I must be looking into the future. But, I wasn't. In that tiny moment my babies had grown up right before my very eyes. Benjamin, my precious little baby, didn't need anyone to hold him. He sat confidently on his own when just one short year ago he had been safely nestled in my womb. Emmaline had become a sweet little lady seemingly overnight. Her little toes seemed to point on their own and each move she made as she perched delicately atop the blossomed branch was so gentle. In the last year she had gone from being nearly bald to having a head full of delicate shoulder-length blonde curls framing her face. And Noah-- my little Noah-- was not little any more. His hands were much bigger than I ever remembered them-- gripping the branches as he climbed confidently from branch to branch. I found myself nearly overcome with emotion, trying to somehow find a way to freeze the moment in my memory forever. Perfect spring mornings don't happen very often, but on that morning my children's youth seemed even more fragile and fleeting. The moment didn't last long, but I am so grateful that I had my camera to help me to remember. But then, like an optical illusion the moment was gone. Lost forever. But remembered, always remembered.
Optical Illusion
Carol Lynn Pearson
Time is a stage magician
Pulling sleight-of-hand tricks
To make you think things go.
There-
Eclipsed by the quick scarf-
A lifetime of loves.
Zip-
The child is man.
Zip-
The friend in your arms
Is earth.
Zip-
The green tree is gold, is white,
Is smoking ash, is gone.
Zip-
Time's trick goes on.
All things loved-
Now you see them, now you don't.
Oh, this world has more
Of coming and going
Than I can bear.
I guess it's eternity I want,
Where all things are
And always will be,
Where I can hold my loves
A little looser,
Where we finally realize-
Time
Is the only thing that really dies.
