Having Time To Observe

South Burllington, VT

Wednedsay morning, at 7 AM I sat in my favorite spot to have morning coffee when at Jen's house.  I sat in a rocking chair looking out the picture windows on the 2nd floor of Burlington Airport.  That place offers the best eastward views in the Burlington area, bar none.

The view is specacuar.  First nearby, is the airport itself.  Most of the airport operations (both civilian and military) are visible from that perch.  Then there is the Champlain Valley extending out past Essex to Jerico, roughly 20 miles away  Beyond that are the Green Mountains.  Bolton Mountain directly ahead, Mount Mansfield slightly north and Camels Hump slightly south.

The previous day it rained, so this morning mists were rising from the ground as water evaporated.  Those mists are most prominent and pretty as the climb the tree tops on the mountain slopes.

At the beginning, all the mountain summits were obscured by clouds.  Then, the summit of Camels Hump appeared as a gentle westerly breeze moved the cloud away from the top.   A half hour later, the wind reversed to easterly and the same cloud moved back over Camels Hump.  

After another hour, the wind shifted to north and cleared all the peaks.   However, a truly masive valley fog filled the valley over Stowe and Morrisville, and Sugarbush.  People down in that valley must have felt that they would never see the sun that day.

All in all, I sat there for three hours enjoying the scenery as I sipped coffee and read the morning's news.

I am so lucky to have the time to observe such beauty in nature, and the maturity and mental relaxaction needed to sit still long enough to see it happen.   In today's world, especially among the young, attention spans are short and getting shorter.

Or maybe I should say that it is me who changed, not the world.  I've mellowed. I've achieved Zen, or any of a dozen mystical or spiritual adjectives that I'm not fond of.  Whatever you call it, I'm glad to have it.