Nit and Grit

Look down at the ground, the pavement. Do you see a pebble, or grit of sand? Do you see the small bits that rough the surfaces we walk on? Do you ‘feel’ the grit, the grab of the feet on the ground, or the grasp of hands on a rough surface? Do you see and feel the grit?

I once slowly observed a dog dealing with its mundane world. Its paws walking the sidewalk, lawn, mud, dirt, sand and packed earth. The surfaces it feels and ‘reads’ to move about. The dog feels the surfaces and instinctively knows how to deal with it. Do we? as humans, do we intuit or sense the tiny cues that guide our actions?

Being an Illinois resident for over 60 years, soft soils, loamy even, are the more common encounter. Out west the sand and small stones – or grit – is more common. This granularity of life goes unobserved most of the time, but crucial just the same.

Like most things we learn to live with, we take it in stride and survive the trek of experience.

Yet, it is this experience that engages the brain and full range of senses. From this we capture aromas on the breeze, the humidity of our air, the salt of an ocean’s breath. We see and hear and feel. We taste and smell. Temperatures, too, are in our sensory perception. This is the nitty gritty of living in the real world.

How much of this are we consciously aware? Do we appreciate their presence? Do they challenge or enrich our existence?

Consider the grittiness of life; it sparks curiosity. It also builds knowledge. Of our surroundings. Of our world. Both big and small are sensed in all of this. Yet another perception of the world that enlarges our view.

Large and small. Grit or mountain. They all matter. Each informs us and expands our world.

March 29, 2023

  

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