I started this morning with eyes down. Focused on chores and schedules and dishes and to-do lists. I had animals to feed and tea to make and email to check.
Eyes up and I noticed the eastern widow glowing crimson from the sunrise beyond the hill. Pure, deep red like I've rarely seen. Stunning. Stop-you-in-your-tracks stunning.
Pragmatically a red morning sky means there is a storm coming. Romantically it means a gorgeous sunrise. I'm 95% romantic so storm or not I grabbed my camera and boots and raced out the door.
In the few minutes it took me to get outside the light had already transformed.
Magic like this lasts but a moment.
But it was still stunning. The smooth red horizon had given way to peach and rosy clouds against the bluing sky. And there was a rainbow hanging over the barn.
No rain on our farm. Just a rainbow. Just for a moment.
And five minutes later all of it was gone.
Now the sky is rough and grey and rain is in the air. An ordinary fall day. Beautiful, but ordinary.
Beneath that grey sky the leaves are turning orange on the hillside.
And I know that soon they, too, will be gone.
And now a mist is blowing up the valley.
I don't know what comes next, but I know that I'll be watching it all unfold as I go about my day.
And I am reminded again of how quickly these treasures pass through our hands, whatever they may be. A sunrise, a conversation, a season, a childhood.
A life.
And I'm thankful for the days when presence trumps distraction and optimism is stronger than worry.
Because it all only lasts a moment.
So I will lift my eyes and search for beauty in it all.
Eyes up! And you will see it. Eyes down and you won't even know what you've missed.
So lift your eyes, my friend.
Your beautiful life is unfolding. Right here. Today.
And the red sky is already giving way to pink.
Your life may be messy, rocky, unpredictable, and ever-changing, but it is also more real and beautiful than anything else you will ever know.
Eyes up!
It's time to watch this life unfold.
Love,
Rachel
