Sunrise, Sunset

"Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another

Laden with happiness and tears"

-Fiddler on the Roof

Isn't it interesting how the rise of the sun can make you reflective?  This morning, I was busy in the kitchen, preparing things for the day, doing some cleaning, just flitting from thing to thing with tv news talking in the background and just happened to take a glance out the window.  And stopped.  The most amazing colors were floating above the treeline and I knew I just needed to stop and get my camera and really absorb every second of it's beauty.  And,  it was worth it.  It was like taking that first breath when you don't even realize you've been holding your breath, waiting for something and then it just happens.  It was just me and the dogs out in the cold air, snapping pictures and taking in the sky that God had painted.  

Lately, life has been busy.  Well, more than lately, because life has been busy for what seems like forever.  The week off around Christmas with Troy was amazing and it was the first breather we've had but even that was busy...just not with work.  Our training schedule, Jeremy getting his license and looking for a car for him, getting the dogs taken care of with annual visits, and the list just went on.  Where is the pause button on life?  I guess there isn't one, but we can find that peace and solace in those moments every day that make us stop and think, reflect and enjoy.  Yesterday that was found looking at a dry lakebed - walking over places we usually kayak over  - and skipping out on a scheduled run to do it.  It felt decadent, even a little naughty, but I enjoyed every second of our four mile walk that took an hour and a half to do!   Even when sticks and rocks kept getting in my shoes! 

We walked along, snapping pictures, looking at tree trunks bleached by water and huge rocks that we sometimes would look at and marvel that we didn't scrape them with our kayaks as we skimmed over them.  I did some searching for rocks to share with the daycare kids but no luck.  I wish I could have lugged some of those tree trunks home though, because they were amazing!  Just to think that these trees somehow stay attached through roots that must run as deep as can be with water always on them, pushing and pulling them.  They are there to stay.

I hope that I am like that tree trunk...roots deep enough to stay firm in my own thoughts, beliefs and convictions, whether I'm hidden in the dark of a lake, or exposed for the world to see in the sunshine.  I am who I am, like it or not.  I've been given the gift of a glorious life and I sometimes wonder if I live up to the potential that God has placed within me.  I don't want to be cliche but I want my life to matter, even if I don't get the privilege of seeing the difference I've made. 

So, as another crazy day begins (we're looking at a car today for the boy) I hope that I can take these reflections along with it.  Enjoying the moments a bit more, and trying to let go of all my expectations for each situation because I'm not really in control.  Things will happen regardless of how I push them to be my way because that's life.  We have a scheduled training run at some point and I hope that I can take my renewed appreciation for being outdoors from our "rest" day yesterday into those six miles and just push myself farther than I thought I could and see what happens.  Because you never know when something ordinary will become extraordinary!  And the days, weeks and months aren't going by any slower, so I want to enjoy them as much as I can. 

And, since I started with Fiddler on the Roof, I'll end it the same way....one of my favorite quotes.  "He loves her. Love, it's a new style... On the other hand, our old ways were once new, weren't they?"