Just for a Moment

I purposely pulled into a parking space on the far side of my office building. It is a beautiful, clear Colorado morning. I can afford a walk before work and there’s a path that leads up and around the back of the property. Part of it winds through pinyon pines and spruce. I find energy for the day on these short detours.

It is easy to squander the opportunity, however. I spend most of my walk looking down at the path and thinking about my agenda and the call I need to make later, after work. I fail to notice that I’m nursing a worry about my daughter’s grades. I spend part of my walk chiding myself about forgetting the garbage cans last week, hoping this will help me remember to put them out this week.

Then, just before the last of my walk is unwisely spent, I look up to see Pikes Peak framed in the branches before me, still snow covered. Near its base are the red sandstone formations once sacred to the Ute Indians. It’s warm for early March, and it seems right that the doves and gilded flickers are cooing and drumming, seeking their own.

I stop and etch these sights and sounds into my memory, then continue down the path, thru the trees to the back door of the building. I am aware that moments of beauty often go unnoticed, pinched out by the concerns of the day. Today, I am fortunate.

Sun on my cheek
I listen to bird calls
Just for a moment