Morning Drive

For the first eight or so miles of my drive, the roads are flanked by large trees and a few open meadowey fields. In general it's a pretty drive.

This morning, much of the sky was overcast, holding the very real promise of the heavy rain storms Michigan in the summer is often wont to deliver. Yet through a rather small break in the clouds, honeyed sunlight filtered down onto my world, making the trees almost glow against the backdrop of foul-weather grey and the rising mist of our heated earth under the cool caress of early morning air. Needless to say, the visual was breathtaking - so much so that I almost forgot for a moment that I was driving off to work, rather than into some happily ever after specially designed for me by the imagineers at Disney.

It was what I commonly refer to as a Parrish morning (there are, of course, Parrish evenings too, but I haven't had one recently enough to write about it). The name comes from a favorite painter of mine (and I'm sure countless others) named Maxfield Parrish. You might be amazed at how familiar some of his work is.

As for me, I'm just reveling in the memory of this morning's drive... and the magical way it made me forget my destination.

At least until the thunderstorms (another favorite) start...