Illumination Writing Challenge

Be Very Quiet, I am Hunting…

The elusively perfect sunrise

There are plenty of reasons to admire Rasheed Hooda, not just for his writing, but I also find that his credo and world view are often very inspiring to me.

One of the things I attempt to do, with mixed success, is stop and admire the world around me. I wrote a few days ago about my beliefs, prompted by B. A. Cumberlidge.‘s story asking for our true meaning in life.

In it, I say that it is our responsibility to occasionally stop and ponder the beautiful, mysterious and sublime. Recently Rasheed challenged us to open up our camera contents and see what sort of beauty is there to share with others.

While I am not always great about taking photos, one thing I seem to do on a regular basis is capture pictures on my morning walk.

For many months of the year here in the Pacific Northwest I am up and out walking before dawn, and it is still dark when I get home. Gloriously, in the spring, that begins to change, and I get the amazing privilege of observing the sunrise.

As we approach the summer solstice, it is already mostly light when I leave at 4:45, but while I miss the sun actually breaking over the Cascade Mountains to the east, I still am treated to some wonderful light shows many days.

Now the solstice has passed, and the days are getting progressively shorter and with subtle changes each day, a different smorgasbord of lights and effects get presented. Unless it is completely overcast and rainy, I typically get to see some version of panoramic view each day.

The fun thing about the weather variations, and the fact that the sunrise happens at incrementally different times each day, is that the view isn’t really ever exactly the same. Also, the tilt of the earth for us up here in the 49th parallel allows that the exact point where the sun emerges from behind the mountain range also changes, ever so slightly, each day.

So, in a lot of ways, finding that great sunrise photo is a bit of a new hunt each morning. Add in the fact that I live in an urban-ish area, means that homes, power lines and trees often obscure the perfect unadulterated view that I might want.

That makes me ponder whether a spot between two houses is the best photo spot, or is it perhaps at the end of the block where the elevation is different? I have been walking essentially this same route daily for over three years now, and each morning things are just a bit different from past mornings.

Each morning I get to stand in awe of how magnificent nature is, even surrounded as I am by homes, cars, businesses and infrastructure.

I think that is exactly what Rasheed Hooda was hinting at when he asked us to share some beauty. I don’t think he was hoping so much to see our photo album as he was asking us to do some self-examination and find our own beauty. Pretty sneakily brilliant of him.

Thankfully, in spite of how harried our lives can be and the curveball (wrecking ball?) that a pandemic has thrown our way, I am still able to slow down for a moment in the mornings and reflect on the good and the beautiful in my life.

When I get back home there are always many things that need to be accomplished. Often, I don’t think about those quiet and reflective times for the rest of the day.

But, fortunately and especially on the most hectic, stressful and harried of days, I do often remember, as my head hits the pillow, that in the morning there will be a new sunrise.

And, if I am lucky, I may just find the perfectly exact moment and flawlessly framed opportunity to capture that view with my camera phone.

Thanks, Rasheed, for offering us the opportunity to be introspective and to find our beauty! I am sharing mine here, and I can’t wait to see the splendor others have found.

I happened to catch Michele Thill‘s story as she spends Saturday in the park. But I don’t think I have seen anything yet from:

Holly Jahangiri, Tom Byers, Paul Myers MBA, P.G. Barnett, Desiree Driesenaar, Charlene Fate, Charlotte Zobeir Ali, Terry Mansfield, Sharon Hurley Hall, Amy Marley, Trista Ainsworth, Aurora Eliam, CMP

If you like this, you might like some of my other recent writing, including my July daily roundup of writing challenges such as this one:

And a recent response prior to this challenge:

And a wrap up of June’s final week of new writer stories:

Timothy Key spent over 26 years in the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic and various fire chief management roles. He firmly believes that bad managers destroy more than companies, and good managers create a passion that is contagious. Compassion, grace and gratitude drive the world; or at least they should. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and join the mail list.