I walked in the predawn dark, a flashlight in hand, in case of cars, to warn them that I was there under the stars with a fingernail sliver of the moon showing against a trailing veil of errant cloud. When I returned home, strolling up the driveway, flushing feral cats from beneath the parked car, something said, “Look Up!” So, I did, thinking, “Yes, the stars are brilliant and beautiful. But, then, right overhead, going north to south, I sensed movement, then saw a big flock of birds, perhaps cranes, flying in a loose, undulating “V”, making their way to wherever, the undersides of their bodies and wings lit by the ambient light of city streets beaming upwards, so that they appeared golden white and shining like a vision. The sight took my breath away.
A disappointment. The lingering stress, though slight, influencing my mindset as I walked again, across town, along the reservoir, noticing rising fish dimpling the placid water, finding myself out of breath as I climbed old stairs to reach the bridge. The air smelled burnt, the river rancid, the roar of the waterfall nearly drowned out by the passage of huge trucks and a long line of cars. Then, the sun popped up, an orange-red “O” on the horizon that spangled the windows of houses and turned the surface of the lake into molten fire. A flurry of doves above me that perched on the power lines, looking like half-notes on a staff of music, all turned east, all greeting the day with peaceful acceptance. The sight took my breath away.
Pedaling, cresting the hill, laboring against the need to get my chore of returning a DVD to the library done so that I could settle into my Sunday routine of reading, writing and resting, the cacophony of sirens and dogs howling arrested my ears, but, hands on the bars, nothing to do but endure, until it all stopped, except for one inexperienced pup who still wailed as if it had been abandoned. Coasting, sensing the sweet lift of autumn hair beneath my hair, drying the sweat, cooling the accumulation of overspent energy, I gave way to movement, so much like flight that I felt I was flying. I spotted the pup, plump paws wedged against chain link fence as it stood on two legs to watch me sail past, eyes wide, ears perked, tail wagging. The sight took my breath away.
–LJ