In the last 100 years or so, since the advent of the automobile, life has progressively moved more quickly. People with their cars race by, demanding everyone around them to move faster. Add to that planes and trains, computers and cell phones. Almost gone are the days of old-fashioned letters. Email has practically removed them from our vocabulary. We even become concerned when we don't receive a response to our email quickly enough for our liking. We move through life as if we can't get to where we are going fast enough. Where are we going?

Conversation, anyone? Try to strike a conversation with someone and you may find they don't answer. Not out of rudeness, but simply because they are wearing the ubiquitous iPod earphone that is seemingly everywhere. Another tool, that takes the wearer just that more distant from his surroundings.

Walk to the beach and see the never ending gaggle of tourists disembarking from their tour bus or their rented car, lining themselves along the sidewalk to take the all important photograph of the Pacific, or better still a picture with themselves standing in front of the ocean. Then they just as quickly embark back on their respective mode of transportation to leave. They lasted no more than 5 minutes. Did any of them notice how each wave crashed in its own unique way on the beach? Did they see the majesty of each bird flying above? Did they revel in the surfurs joy? Did they glimpse at the rainbow of colors of the many kites and the artistry of their owners?

I know these people. I am quite familiar with them all, as I was once one of them myself. I was the one that knew which lane of the individual street at any given time to avoid the most traffic and to arrive at my destination a micro-minute faster. While in college I worked in retail, and could actually ring 2 people up at the same time on different registers. For goodness sake, I even know the fastest way to get dressed in the morning!

Why is it we don't actually take the time and smell the roses? There is so much beauty everywhere. Driving through the Presidio in San Francisco one day, I was suddenly overcome with the beauty of the centuries old trees swaying in the wind with the familiar aroma of eucalyptus wafting to my nose. Yes, I have seen them for years and even enjoyed their scent, but this is the first time they had my full attention to notice their gracefulness. God really created a miracle here.

We were meant to learn, grow and enjoy life. Soak in all its great beauty and wonder. Take in the elegant beauty of a rose in the garden, and watch the bee dancing around it trying to get its attention. Watch the young child learning to ride his bike with his father beaming with pride. Observe a cloud pass overhead forming its ethereal shapes. Sit in a Parisian cafe people watching for hours without a care in the world. Paint a picture or write a poem of your surroundings. Here is one that I wrote about my observations:

The Sights and Sounds of Ocean Beach

The sound of the waves crashing on the shore with its seemingly calm waters, hence the name Pacific, but in actuality the riptides and undertows are quite dangerous…yin and yang at work again…

The seagulls chirp while the other birds sing their various melodies above me.

The occasional muffled human voice wafts through the air.

A lone dog waits and points at something toward the sea. His master arrives and takes him. He saunters off enthusiastically with his tail wagging. The memory of his prey seemingly vanishes.

A young couple strolls along the beach arm in arm and reminds me of my youth.

The old Cliff House sign is a reminder of the Grand Dame that once stood there.

The trees with their fantastically unusual shapes…are they Japanese?

A little girl uses her plastic shovel to cover her feet with the warm sand as I used to when I was her age. I wonder if all children do this.

The fog rolls in, seemingly swallowing the landscape, cooling me down, while my favorite sound of all, the fog horn firmly roars at the ships so they will not lose their way.

The fog quietly covers the sights, but it can not mask the sounds.