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DAVID BENTLEY'S WEEKLY COLUMN |
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SHADOW ANGEL
There's an angel sun catcher hanging from a plastic suction cup stuck to my office window. The angel has a round head, two wings, and a body, all made of milky white glass. The head is encircled by a wire halo. When the window shade is pulled down, sunlight projects a brown shadow from the angel onto the shade. Somehow the rays of light refract through the suction cup creating a large sparkle on the shade just above the angel's head. It's rather stunning. As I watch the shadow angel, its size and shape change while the sparkle above its head flutters and gyrates. Both reflections move slowly across the screen, growing larger as the angle of the sun changes. If the sun goes behind a cloud, the images fade, but remain visible. When the sun begins to set behind the hill to the west, the reflections vanish. The best days for watching the shadow angel are those when the sun plays peek-a-boo behind the clouds. On those days the angel dances and undulates. Sometimes bold and energetic, sometimes timid and demure, the angel is constantly transforming itself to adapt to the conditions at hand. This is far more interesting than what happens on the days when the sun continuously shines directly on the window, or the overcast days when the angel is barely visible. It is the constant change in the intensity of the sunlight that makes the shadow angel most inspiring. Like my shadow angel, we humans are most inspiring when we face the trials and tribulations of the changes taking place around us. Despite their inherent frustration, these are the times that make us dance and undulate -- sometimes boldly and sometimes reticently. It is in these times of change that we grow and sparkle, often oblivious to the impact we are having on others.
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SAN JUAN ISLANDER © 2008 |
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