July 13 2003, 1:40 PM

"Think I can jump across this, Em? Think I can jump across this?"

A small boy in jeans and a multicolored tshirt yelled this to his even smaller sister as they ran along the bank of the stream in Congress Park. The stream is probably twice as wide as he is tall, but he still wants to try, and only a yell from his mother dissuades him until he notices the carousel and begins begging for a ride.

A squirrel just started to climb noisily down the tree I'm sitting under. He looks very confused - what right do I have to be under his tree? A confused squirrel looking at you upside-down can't help but be comical. He didn't take kindly to my laugh and scampered off through the branches to try another tree.

This is a great spot for people watching. Little kids and ducks have quite the symbiotic relationship - the kids provide the ducks with food, and the ducks provide the kids with entertainment, fuel for their amazing drive to try and do everything in the world and still be home for macaroni and cheese in the evening.

Everyone wants to be small again, to feed the ducks that are half as tall as you when they stretch their necks out for stale bread.

Sometimes I think: what's the point of life? Why are we here if we're just destined to die, our species become extinct, our planet disappear inside the supernova of the sun or get blown out of existence by a reckless madman with weapons of unnecessary and grotesque power?

But right here is an answer, in front of me. Life should be about waving hello to the ducks in the park on a Sunday afternoon, breathing the still air that seems to mean impending rain. About sitting next to a stream watching sparrows hunting bugs, or the dachshund romping about on its ridiculously short legs.

A white feather floats down the stream as a woman in a white bridal gown trailing a veil flows past with a page and three bridesmaids.

Life should be as intensely simple as that. Breathtaking as being in love in the park, simple as a white feather coasting downstream turning lazily in the current, or a sparrow taking a drink & disappearing.

Because really, what's so wonderful about having a point? Tiny ducklings scuttling through the grass and splashing into the stream have it all figured out, so what's taking me so long?

In complexity there lies potential destruction.

Live simply and fully; more one cannot do.