My heart soars

It's that second century of life that gives The FeMan perspective to appreciate the wonders of life.

Since the old joints take a little longer to loosen up in the morning it's just not possible to leap out of bed and charge into the day. There is something magical about light at the edge of darkness though. In the morning it's the dawning of a new day. In the evening there's that rare, clear night when the full moon comes up over the mountains to the east and illuminates the world.

Some recent occasions for these observations occurred for The FeMan.

First, a lunar event

This year was supposed to be one of those rare celestial events when the moon is quite close to the earth at it's fullest. Here in the sodden, gray northwest there was a magical nighttime clearing for this event. The moon rose majestically above the eastern mountains and that magical wintertime greenish-yellow light flooded the world. Looking down from his hilltop perch The FeMan could see the full reflection of the moon in the lake.

And the water surface, looking gently dimpled from a distance, broke up this light into thousands of sparkling moonlets. The sounds of the city barely penetrated inside so that there was a quiet, clean beauty to it all.

Even though The FeMan isn't a night person, a night like that is one to remember.

Then, a solar event

As was his wont The FeMan had set out on a wintertime early morning run, well before dawn had even begun to make itself slightly known. He headed north, through the neighborhoods towards a turnaround three miles away.

As he ran along the sidewalk, then the streets, the sun began to let the earth know that another day was coming. There were high clouds but no rain.

At his turnaround the eastern sky was illuminated from below, causing a bluish layer of light to build along the mountains and beneath the layer of clouds.

The sun was now racing to come up over the horizon. As the night turned to day the colors changed to to reds and oranges and birds even tried to sing! In the winter, no less!

Ah, how wonderful to breath and run and see it all. How can life get much better?

And still another solar event

"What are we doing right?" thought The FeMan as he set out on another morning run. "No rain, not too cold. We've now passed the solstice and the hours of daylight are on a steady, increasing march."

Same path as before: head north for a turnaround a little farther away. Warm enough to take off the gloves and hat after 3-4 miles.

Then it happened.

Another one of those occasions when it just feels inspiring to be alive.

As he came out of the neighborhoods and got back onto the street which follows the lake the sun was illuminating the southeastern sky like a gazillion candlepower greenish spotlight.

Mount Rainier was completely silhouetted.

The lake was smooth with no wind. As The FeMan continued south the sun continued its path to full light. The clouds were high and thin, like streaks of cotton flung in parallel strands across the sky.

Then, just before the sun burst out in full light, the entire horizon burned red. The lake looked like it was on fire. As The FeMan came into the house he had to roust The Big J out of bed to witness this event. She was suitably awed.

Then, it was over.

Such magnificence all spent in just a few minutes. It makes those short minutes all the more precious. "We can only hope for more of this," thought The FeMan as he prepared to be dragged back into the work-a-day world.

This page maintained by webmaster Mike Nelson.	Search feman.com

Send comments to webmaster@feman.com