The first indoor movie I ever saw was Old Yeller.  I was stunned with grief that the little boy had to shoot his dog.  I never let my children see that movie.  I had never seen Bambi but I finally decided to risk it with my sons.  We went to the theater, sat down, and the power went out, so I’ve never seen Bambi.

I’ve also never seen The Lion King, but it’s the second movie my three and a half year old grandson has seen.

When we were at CuriOdyssey with him, we came up to a table a senior citizen was staffing.  The table was covered with items to touch, feathers, two tortoise shells, a bobcat jaw, and the skin of a skunk.   Grandson held back, looked up at the man, and said he’d seen The Lion King and that it was sad.  The man leaned toward him and asked if he was sad when the father died, and he nodded.  And the man said he, too, was sad, when the dad died. And then grandson talked about Scar.  It was one of those moments in life I didn’t realize I’d taken in until it kept coming back to me, flooding my heart with witnessing the gentle sharing and understanding of an older man and a three year old boy.

When we went outside Grandpa sat on a bench and Grandson curled up next to him.  It’s only now that I recognize that Grandson was again snuggled into kindness.  This is the world we share. 

 I’m told The Lion King is about the circle of life, that it is a “story of redemption and overcoming shame, finding yourself, knowing who to trust”, and that I will love it.

Clearly, Grandson understood and trusted that man, and hearts were touched and shared.

Day camp was happening around us, and a group of children passed us carrying their creations made from cardboard boxes and tubes. The creations are made as offerings to entertain and stimulate the animals who live there.  A little girl showed me a house she had made for a ferret.  

Last night we watched the first episodes of the TV show Silo.  I wasn’t quite sure what I thought of it so I watched an interview with the author of the book and the director of the movie.  The author, Hugh Howey, was influenced by a sailing trip he took to Cuba over 20 years ago. He’d been warned about the place, propagandized. What he found was the most welcoming and friendly place he’d ever been.  He wrote the books to ask us to look beyond screens that deliver continuous bad news to instead visit and learn what is truly happening with a people in a place.

It’s summer and the birds are twittering and tweeting.  Our little wren and her mate are busy caring for their nest.

Life is a circle and the circle is Love, pebbled with layers and layers of kindness, like galaxies of stars.