The following story is a little preview from the planned essays for Beauty... . ENJOY!
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| Public Domain photo by Alex Grichenko |
Hurry Up and Wait
By Judith Cullen
© 2015
I’ll never forget that morning. It was a typically overcast, drizzly Pacific Northwest weekday anonymously tucked somewhere
between November and March. It was the
kind of morning that would typically blend into the sameness of other winter,
weekday morning commutes. The sky hung in a misty, moist silver blur as I
pulled out onto the main drag by my house, embarking once more on the 30 mile
trek to a job in the state capitol.
When I first started driving this particular commute nearly
two years ago, I remembered every turn, every leaf and branch, every bridge and
stream of the very scenic journey. At
the time my amazement was such that I said a loud to myself, “I wonder if I
will ever get tired of this lovely drive?” The drive was, and is, filled with
loveliness to fill any scenic sensibility: vibrant mixes of green, leafy trees;
the different glimpses of sky and mountains; the far off ripple and sparkle of Puget Sound waters.
The answer turned out to be “yes, sort of.” I’ve long since stopped noticing every scenic
bit and bob along the way. I still enjoy
the views and the changes of season, but not as attentively as I once did. It was not going to be scenery, this
particular morning, which made this trip stand out.
