Astounded
The sun was low in the sky and the world had taken on that magical evening-time glow when the sun strikes steep surfaces straight on and things are lit in a completely different manner than any other time of day, making you look at the world differently. I looked up from my hamburger, out the dining-room window, and was strangely enticed. While I couldn't actually see any of the beauty that had unfolded in the heavens above me, I was drawn to go outside. It held far more allure than the view accounted for. Perhaps there was something reflected in the sunlight that lit spectacularly the tree-covered hill above our house. Perhaps I could simply feel the changes brewing in the world, as the animas sense somehow the glorious storm coming. At any rate, I went outside. I walked out, and the skies spread out above me. I felt what I've only read about–somehow, in this hilly region of Oregon, I had the same powerful feeling of being overwhelmed that people experience when they first step out onto the endless plains of the midwest. There were houses, and trees, and even hills blocking a good portion of the sky, yet somehow it still dominated the space. It was the only thing of importance. The clouds hung low enough to pluck from the skies, and they glowed enticingly enough to make you want to, and let their juice dribble down your chin like the juice of a perfectly ripe peach. The sky was a work of art.
Never before have I had such a strong feeling that an artist had spread out his canvas and created a masterpiece just for me to see. It was a brief exposition, but it must have reached hundreds of people, all awe-struck as they gazed up at the skyscape so masterfully-crafted. The hues were just right. The contrast spoke volumes. The subtle differences in color and texture of the clouds combined with a wonderful shifting movement, clearly adequate for inspiring even the most unartistic members of the human race. Some clouds low enough to almost touch moved quickly across the sky, and changed as the light hit them at different angles. The dark, vibrant blues of the horizon served to set off their brilliant golds. A sea of clouds engulfed the far-off hills on the horizon, and became a new horizon-line. They seemed bolder, and taller, and more powerful than had the hills that stood there just this afternoon. They exclaimed to the world that they were changing things, and did so in such a bold powerful stroke as to be noted by the gathered powers of the nations, if only they had the eyes to see it.
The light, ethereal clouds shone among the billowing giants, and in places the blue veil shone through that ever so lightly covers the black void of space and the brilliance of stars. It was magnificent.
You should have been there.