I wasn’t really going to go anywhere this morning. Had a rough night (sleep-wise) and was moving later than normal.
But as I stood there in the yard, having fed the last of the babies and emptied the last of the litter trays, I stopped. I looked up at the yet-dark skies and breathed in.
The air was fresh and sweet, courtesy of a significant storm that blew through yesterday evening. My yard and the driveway were strewn with nature’s litter; bit of branches, twigs, and leaves everywhere. In sections and in particular in this darkness, you couldn’t make out where the driveway was versus the yard.
People more industrious than I would immediately begin to plan the clean up; restoring their yard to a chaos-free appearance. But me, I went in, grabbed my camera and coffee and left it all behind me.
There is nothing like turning your back on things, particularly when you already feel that life is over-burdening you.
So, passing no apology to anyone and offering an “I’ll be back” to the furry faces looking up at me as I hopped into the car, I found myself pulling off the driveway and heading down the road to the ball fields.
Being this close to twilight, there was no opportunity for me to make it anywhere else in time to catch the sky, in all honesty. So this wasn’t so much a “wouldn’t it be wonderful to shoot the ball-fields” moment as a realization that I needed to get somewhere quickly.
As I pulled off Walker Road (after less than a two minute drive) I spotted that there was a swathe of low lying fog on the ball fields that created a magical effect with the always-on floodlights.
I hate that they always leave those lights on for many reasons, but this morning I momentarily forgave them.
The mosquitoes were savages and the time to catch color in the skies was short, but I managed to get a few images worth sharing and they are here at the end of the blog. Hope you like them.
On the short drive home again I mused over how magical a little fog can make a scene. It can take a very mundane view and add an element of mystique to it. This morning had that and the lights adding the broad glow to the fog’s vapors made it all so picturesque.
The funny thing is the fog had evaporated within about ten or fifteen minutes. It was merely a moment in transit and those arriving at the ball fields for a Sunday tournament, as I was leaving, hadn’t a notion that it had even existed.
So, there we were different people, at the same place and almost the same time, but having wildly different experiences to report on.
To all intents and purposes, the fog was here one moment and gone the next. And that is the chord that struck within my mind that leads to this blog thought.
I have often commented before on how the colors in the sky rapidly change at sunrise and so their transience has to be treasured when you get them. But these color shifts happen often during sunrises.
The fog was something that I might not witness again for a year or more so it highlights an element that is more rare and therefore more precious.
And this is the thing about life … we encounter some things along life’s path that are precious and are indeed there just for a moment and gone the next.
Making the most of them and appreciating them while we have them, is crucial to our life’s experience. It is pointless only mourning them when they are gone. Seeing value in something only when you don’t have it, is quite frankly, pathetic.
Along my life’s path, I grieve the loss of my parents and others who have been dear to my heart but no longer here. But, I can reflect on each of these and remember moments with them where we shared life together, shared love, and rode life’s coat-tails as best we could.
None of this reduced the grieving for the loss, but it solidifies the preciousness that they were in my life.
Life is very much a tapestry woven with many elements and full of twists and turns. Our shared path through it, with someone we love, is only a part of the fabric that eventually has captured our complete life.
Their life may take them on a different thread the very next day, or yours might. So, living the moment with them is super-important and something worth breathing in.
Today … this moment in time, is our only guarantee with them. They may be gone tomorrow. Or we may be. Who knows.
So take a moment. This moment, right now. Look around at the beauty that is in your life and breathe it in. If there is someone to be hugged, hug them.
This may be a beautiful moment that unbeknownst to us is on the verge of evaporating with the rising sun. Treasure it.
… just a thought.
