Something of a recurring exclamation in our house is “Oh, wow!” I don’t mean that we say it all the time and there are other exclamations which are less wholly positive, but it is nevertheless a refrain which punctuates family life.
Quite often it’s when someone points out to someone else a spectacular sunset, a beautiful flower or a moon suspended in the night sky. Recently there was an example where the situation was slightly different. We were out for a meal in the evening, looking over a lake as the light faded.
My wife pointed out the moon rising, full and perfectly framed between pine trees. As there was another family at the next table, it seemed churlish not to share this slice of beauty. That elicited an “Oh, wow!” from the Dad next door as he indicated the light show to his son.
We exchanged a few more fragments of conversation with the other family but then that was it. Over the next few minutes my wife and daughter and I swapped observations about the trajectory of the moon as it flitted into the next gap and its reflection in the water grew, especially as it transcended the trees completely.
Something about that initial “Oh, wow!” made the moment special. Perhaps it was the impact of the first sight of the light, but maybe it was also the very fact of being able to make contact with someone else to share it.