High 5s, Swinging Monkeys, and the Lowdown on Making Assumptions

On perception

“I see it right there in front of me,” explained bird. “So, I know it’s real.”

“But are you sure,” replied bear, “you’re seeing what’s really there?”

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📷: Red Moon in gold
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He walks by my house almost every day.

He’s tall and has big hands.

Earlier in life, he might’ve been strong, played football perhaps.

He’s always wearing shorts.

He’s always sweating.

And he always high 5s the low-hanging branches on the tree in front of my house.

Or so I thought.

Things are not always as they appear, are they?

That tree, a Magnolia grandiflora, stretches some 50-feet tall and has these dark green leathery leaves that shimmer in the sun.

In the summer, it explodes with giant creamy white flowers; flowers that smell like fresh wash hung out to dry, sweet honey dripping from the comb.

I’ve pruned the branches to stretch like a canopy over the sidewalk – a 15-foot micro-escape from urban concrete and asphalt.

I smile every time I see him, knowing what is about to come.

Like a story repeating, he lifts his hands above his head, lightly brushing the leaves above him as he passes under.

The other day, I was outside when he walked by.

“Hey,” I said, “I love that you high five the trees. It makes me smile when I see it.”

“Oh,” he responded, now walking slowly back toward me. “That’s not what I’m doing at all.”

“I’m trying to think like a monkey and figure out which branches monkey me would swing from to get from one side to the other of this tree.”

Me: long pause.

“Wow, that’s awesome.”

“Have you seen the flowers on this tree?” he asks. “They’re huge, and they smell like sweet tea. Well, have a good one.”

The arms on this mobile are all parallel, straight, living at right angles. Yet, in this photo, they appear semi-akimbo, don’t they?

The angle at which we view shapes that which we see. If left at appearances, high fives are simply that. Yet when we dig a little deeper, high fives become monkeys swinging in trees.

Now when I see him, I smile and laugh. And that’s a good thing.

Can you find one everyday story you tell about someone – or groups of someones or even about yourself – that you can get a little more curious about?