Reflection on reflection

This is my dog's water dish.  It's been about 107 here every day this last week, and it's important that the dogs have water all the time, both inside and outside.  I took the picture today, just after I filled it.  Not the greatest picture.  I was trying to capture the way that sunlight reflects off the water.  See those white sorta half-moon shapes on the sides of the dish?  That's part of the reflections.  In actuality it was so bright, it can be a little blinding if you stare right at it.  Which reminded me of a question that I've wondered about.  How come, when the air is so full of sunlight--alive with photons! in the middle of the morning, we can look right at it, look anywhere, but when the water reflects just some of it into our eyes, like the tiniest stream of photons that are bouncing off a tiny wave in the doggie dish, it can be blinding to us?  Weird, isn't it?

Then I wondered about what happens when we reflect on something (like what I'm doing right now).  I think there are some parallels.  Like, ok I'm standing in the backyard.  The backyard is like the whole Universe, really, when you think about it.  What is there to be aware of?  I could write until I died and not list it all.  There's the trees, the fruit, the sky, the soil, the lawn and plants, the bugs, worms, rocks, fence, neighborhood, neighbors, all the interrelationships, the balance between the neighborhood and the earth, and of course the dogs and cats, the tools, bicycles, patio, house, roof...  thousands and thousands of things to know, understand, be aware of...  but our mind focuses on whatever we frame as something to think about.  And that's the important thing, probably--our intention, what's in our hearts, and what we choose to think about, or what's running through our head.  And that becomes the moment for us.  That one tiny, itty-bitty aspect of the Universe gets superfocused on, in the same way that I'm focusing on this one set of thoughts right now.  In a way, this process is quite delightful--a kind of play.  Reflection is a wonderfully creative way to sculpt consciousness, to construct the quality of our lives.  On the other hand, it's a distortion, because it takes just one part of Everything quite out of context.

So, OK, it's after 1 a.m. right now, and I'll go for the zzzzz's.  When I read this tomorrow morning, I might think, "Oh!  I'm glad I caught that thought."  Or, I might think, "Well, I shouldn't write when I'm tired..."  Good night then.  Wishing you happiness in sunlight, cool water, and restful sleep.