sunshine

"it takes eight minutes for light to travel from the sun to the earth.

all you have to do is look out for a little extra brightness in the sky. if you wake up one morning and it's a particularly beautiful day, you'll know we made it."

last night, out of nowhere, the clouds came in. the wind blew fast and angry. the rain started and never stopped. le déluge.

this morning, i was convinced it would be a shitty day. the clouds were hanging out to taunt us as we woke. the ground was soaked with water and mud and debris. the sun was just gone.

then it changed.

ten minutes ago, the breeze warms a bit, enough to notice and appreciate. the grass and trees green up and move, alive again. the sun comes out.

it's a tragic oversimplification to think of this as mere weather. i swear there's just so much more to it.

it's times like this that remind me of how lucky we all are. of how blessed i am. i'm alive. and you. and we get to enjoy it.

the thoughts sparked with conversations over tea and hot chocolate in the bay area with nareen and stephanie. thoughts and curious hypotheticals. if animals can think and know and love, can they then appreciate the beauty and wonder in the world that we see around us?

years later.

i'm in burlington.

it's not hypotheticals over coffee or tea anymore. i know it.

i look outside and i know it. you do when you see it.

in any part of the world, with any faith or culture, there's more to this morning than weather. it's more than a season.

you're walking down the street and the breeze picks up, just teases the hairs on your skin and cools your neck, beats against you in rhythm in step. the sun shines down and warms you in a way that feels like home.

there's more to this world than weather and seasons. there's more to it than the details we so often get wrapped up in. a tragic oversimplification.

the best parts of this world are in the subtle nuances, the insignificant things we don't care enough to notice.

take a walk. and open your eyes.

i'm alive. you're alive. and the world is around you, too.

there's just more to it.