opportunity taken

everyone knows that commuting to work in the morning isn't usually something synonomous with having a jolly good time. there's lots of traffic. everyone is in a rush. you're still kind of waking up. add to that the fact that i am currently driving almost an hour right now AND they are doing construction on the main road i am temporarily living off of...and you can see where this is starting to go right?

or can you....?

the road i was on narrowed down from 4 lanes to one lousy lane this morning while the night crews collected their orange barrels. (hmmmm...was almost starting to think i missed those guys from the I-4 construction commute days but decided not so much really...) so while i waited my turn, i could have fumed & sighed & worried about the fact that i still needed to stop for gasoline (at a stunning $2.34/gallon!) but instead my attention was held captive by this beautiful sunrise...

the soft colors. the quiet shadows. nature just starting to wake up. it was that perfect moment just before the sun actually lifts into the sky to cover the earth with light. that moment that vanishes in an instant & i caught it...

freed at last from traffic purgatory, i made my merry way almost to work where i got stopped by the world's longest & slowest moving train. i kid you not, i sat there for almost 20 minutes & the train had already been going by when i reached the crossing. you'd think i had already paid my dues with the sitting & the waiting this morning. apparently not. so i put the car in park, got comfy & ate my breakfast. which killed all of about 2.5 minutes lol. i started looking around me. since i'm normally paying attention to my driving while i'm on this stretch of road, i took the stand-still time to take in the surroundings. much of this section of my commute is industrial in setting but this particular area is owned by the power company and hasn't been developed in any way. it was shrouded in a light morning fog. the sort that doesn't really distort your view as much as it softens the edges. so peaceful & serene.

twice today i was forced to stop. i could have been frustrated & annoyed. instead i took the opportunity to absorb the beauty that surrounds me every day that i don't often grant myself the permission to absorb. and somehow my day started out with a good feeling...