A lump in my throat

Tonight I planned to run after work, but my growling stomach and the quickly dropping temperature swayed me from that course pretty quickly. Add on the fact that I have some painting to do (the last of it!) and the relative warmth of my house, the run...didn't materialize.  But that's okay. There's always tomorrow.

With no run to write about, what does the title refer to?

This morning.

Honestly, when I close my eyes and think about this morning, I'm still reeling a little bit.

This morning, I drove to work through what can only be described as a painting come to life.

I feel so corny, trying to write about this.

Let me take a deep breath and start.

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As November draws to a close, the sun is considered "risen" just a few minutes before seven, the hour at which work starts for me. It is also the time at which I am often pulling into the parking lot.

Last night we had a hard freeze in Eastern North Carolina and it was apparent as soon as I left the house this morning. The frost glittered under a sky that had just begun to turn the palest of pinks.

As I drove, the sun slowly crept into view. Everything was frosted over. Grass, roofs, cars, trees. The very air was frosted, hung heavy with a mist that wasn't quite fog.

A third of the way through my drive, I am now on Highway 111 heading south. There is a field on the left, framed by trees, where the sun rises. Once or twice I have seen a lone deer there; this morning, no animals were about, but my breath caught in my throat.

Everything, everywhere, all cast in pearly luminescence. Soft pinks, the faintest of peaches, all kissed by lilac.

Crossing the Broadhurst Bridge over the Neuse River, I looked left, to the east, and right, to the west, and almost drove into the bridge wall. In the east, the colors had deepened; in the west, the full moon hung between waves of violet and indigo.

Continuing down Broadhurst, my head swung from left to right and back, soaking up the colors. The colors were everywhere. With the whole world frosted over, the only color was in the sky, and what mighty colors they were.

I turned right onto the road which houses the place I work and now I alternated looking through my windshield and in my rear-view mirror. As I watched, the sky's palette slowly shifted and the colors morphed and brightened. I pulled into the parking lot and just sat and swallowed against the lump in my throat.

What a beautiful world we live in.