The path and the small stuff

For every nature walk we have joined this week, the focus has been on spotting the sloth or the toucan or the capuchin monkey. Also for us.

And with the abundance of wild life in Costa Rica, it is impossible not to see something, even if it is not what you expected to see. Maybe there is a bat. Or a racoon. Or a line of leaf-cutting ants, creating a highway out of the elevated path we humans made for ourselves.

I watch people grab their cameras for the sloth and the monkey but not the ant. I too have any number of photos of those bigger animals. But the truth is, I enjoy myself more when I just watch. When I just am. It is the highway of ants that is etched into my mind. The seamless collaboration. The bravery and stubbornness. The communication at each step.

You know that saying, don’t sweat the small stuff? It’s true. And also: the small stuff is what matters. If I didn’t already know this, this trip has made that abundantly clear.