What do you see? A yellow jeep with a spare tire mounted on the tailgate? Or something else?

I have to be honest. At first I saw a Jeep. After a few blocks, I noticed the black tire against the yellow paint. And when we rolled to a stop at the light, I was grabbing my phone to take a photo, because what arose for me was the graceful beauty and lines of this most practical, functional mandala. For that’s what it is, you know. A mandala.

“What a beautiful tire,” I said to Charlie. “Stay with him; I want a photo!” And he did, driving in his best James Bond way while I focused and shot.

I’m grateful, today, for beauty in strange places! This practical, functional, essential thing (a tire, no less!) with such graceful lines and an almost lotus-like design is as much of a mandala as any painstakingly created work of art.

So thank you, Jeep. Whether you created this mandala tire with intention or by chance, it has given me a new insight: to be open to the unexpected and to look with fresh eyes at everyday things.

There is wonder to be had everywhere I go and, for this, I am eternally grateful.