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
Grace said it was a cotton candy sky!
You are wonderful. That is all.
Thank you!
I wish you could follow me around all day and say these things in my ear. But that would probably defeat the purpose of your attempts at presence in your own life :). I guess I will have to settle for reading and rereading your magical posts as they come up. Reading your words always centers me and makes me want to be a truer person. And to think I found you via Baby Wipe Juice.
Beautiful! I’m always looking at the sky. I adore figuring out what the weather will be by what is going on in the sky.
I am so glad I took the time to read your blog this morning…what a beautiful way to start the day.
Thanks for this…
Thank you. I needed this reminder. After a day with my eyes down, reading this post made me glance over at my two precious sleeping babes and i was remined of how quickly they are changing. Growing. And just how lbleesed I am to have them. Tomorrow I will choose to look up, to see the beauty instead of the overwhelm.
Thank you so very much for sharing these thoughts Rachel. Your words resonate with me, as I have so often experienced this phenomenon, whether working on the farm, in the garden, on the computer, even on my daily walk!…Too easy to become absorbed and focused on the tasks at hand, even when they are worthy activities.
In particular, during my years doing farm work, whenever we would finish tasks and stand up to stretch/switch to the next thing,it would be so rejuvenating to just simply scan the sky/horizon/fields, and feel the beauty surrounding us. As a Mom of grown up children, and parents that are no longer with us,the reminder of how fleeting childhood/ life is is especially true. So grateful for your wise and beautiful words.