Beneath the Earth and Around the Corner

I have a walk I do almost everyday.  It is my way to work, to shop and to the nearest metro.  I'm fortunate as it takes me down my favorite street lined with coffee shops and stately embassies, and through my favorite park where I am currently waiting for the roses and lavender to bloom.
However, a new grocery store just opened in my neighborhood.  It has wide aisles, all the products I need and the crowds haven't found it yet.  So I've been taking a different route round the back of the park and down a side street.  This takes me by the sidewalk display of the corner flower shop.  They sell lemon and kumquat trees among their other blooms.

Now that I am taking notice of my somewhat new surroundings I look back at the park.  Viewing it from this angle I see that the back side is really a display of roman ruins dug up in 2002 when the Sofia subway was being built.  These pieces of history date back to the 2nd century AD and to the Roman city of Serdica on top of which Sofia lies today.  I normally don't notice these ancient monuments to days gone by because they are so much a part of the park.  Children play on them, draw on them, and they are used by picnickers as tables and benches.

But today the park is empty because of the rain and these relics silently remind me that they have always been there.

Security experts advise us to vary our routes so as to thwart terrorists.  Apparently we are less of a target if we are unpredictable.  But varying my walking path is less about my personal security and more about my mental health.  And it is about taking the time to look at things from different angles.

When visiting a beautiful building or grounds we need to wander around and look: down at what we are stepping on; up to what towers above; back at where we have just come from; and from the other side of the wall.
When visiting the breath taking monasteries in northern Greece recently, my favorite view was from inside the sturdy dark walls looking out... at the natural beauty just waiting for me to notice that it has always been there.