Little Things Scenic Overlook Ahead

An Apostle Islands postcard

It is a common sight in national parks and on scenic highways: a big block-lettered sign informing us of the “Scenic Overlook Ahead.” Most often the arrows lead to a picture postcard, big sweeping vista view, a “stand here, look at this, this is beautiful” sort of place complete with parking spaces and interpretive signs.

As humans, it is often the big things we glorify and celebrate. But what of the little things? There are no scenic overlooks for the way the snow glitters in moonlight or the jewel-like pendant of a tiny leaf encased in ice. Are those things any less beautiful? Any less worth stopping a moment to look at?

We are, and likely always will be, a society that trumpets the superlative, but underneath it all, there is a galaxy of things to wonder at and appreciate, many of them small and easy to overlook from a scenic “overlook.” Yet nothing in nature is insignificant, even if it doesn’t rise to the level of a scenic turnout or an interpretive sign. If ever there was a sign that spoke to the beauty and importance of little things, it would do well to include the words of poet William Stafford and his short poem, “Note.”

Note

straw, feathers, dust—

little things

but if they all go one way,

that’s the way the wind goes.

— William Stafford

“Little Things Scenic Turnout,” it might read. “A half-mile ahead.”