The Quest

Wonder.

A word, a concept, that connects to so many others:
curiosity
amazement
gratitude

My quest is to experience the Seven Natural Wonders of the World first hand, hopefully in some interactive way.
Because I'm curious.
Because I'm amazed.
Because I am grateful.

Of course, there is an issue with defining the seven wonders. The earliest list I can find, oddly enough, goes back to a CNN poll taken in 1997. More recently there have been movements to not only preserve and protect the original seven wonders but also to name seven new wonders, ostensibly drawn from a much larger voting pool as made possible by the world wide web. This elaborate voting campaign will reveal its final conclusions on 11/11/11.

All that is to say that a list of the seven natural wonders of the world is a bit subjective! The original list included the Grand Canyon, the Northern Lights, the Great Barrier Reef, Victoria Falls, Mount Everest, the harbor of Rio De Janeiro, and a volcano you've probably never heard of called Paricutin (in Mexico). I guess I'll live with this list for now, and see what the new list has on it. Who knows, my quest may become the Fourteen Natural Wonders of the World!

But then there is the chicken soupish story of the elementary school teacher discussing this very question with her geography class. The teacher asked each student to compile a list of their candidates for the Seven Greatest Wonders of the world. Several obvious places received a lot of votes -- Egypt's Great Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon, China's Great Wall, and so on.

While gathering the votes the teacher noticed that one of the students, a quiet girl, hadn't turned in her paper yet. The teacher asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The quiet girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there are so many." The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have and maybe we can help." The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the 7 wonders of the world are:

1. to touch

2. to taste

3. to see

4. to hear

... she hesitated a little, and then she added,

5. to feel

6. to laugh

7. and to love

The silence in the classroom was deafening.

In our quest to find the great wonders of this world let us not fail to see the simple wonders all around us.