Morning fog blanketed our backyard and the town’s cemetery behind it. At first only the tops of the huge trees (that must have been planted there well before Alexandria received the motto “where the city meets the country”) were visible. They just looked green. Nothing extraordinary.
It wasn’t long, however, before the sleepy-eyed landscape changed.
When the grey covers were thrown off, what had been hidden from view burst forth into a multi-colored display of fall foliage. Breathtaking.
That was in 2017, but an earlier revealing of Nature’s beauty came back to mind today. As I sipped my tea on the patio glider, I remembered how our honeymoon drive from Seattle had unfolded. We were not quite to Mount Rainier’s Paradise Inn and the sun had already set. It had been beautiful, but now maneuvering the winding mountain road in the dark seemed like riding a rollercoaster blindfolded.
Hubby Chris and I crept along in our rental car, wishing another vehicle’s headlights would shed some light on the situation. After what seemed like years, the warmth of the stone fireplaces in the Inn’s timber-framed lobby welcomed us in and we slept well past daybreak.
What we could glimpse of the landscape out our guest room window was miniscule compared to the expansive panoramic views of the glacier-covered peaks that surrounded us as we stepped outside.
Breath taken away.
Seeing pictures of what we could expect while planning the trip and then actually being in the midst of the experience were two completely different things. The beauty of the unknown that couldn’t be seen on the previous night’s drive was revealed in morning’s light and started us off on life adventures we’ve been blessed to have experienced together and that we’ve enjoyed reminiscing about over and over through the 32 years since.
Who knew that on our first day in Paradise we’d unexpectedly get to “hike” on a glacier in our tennis shoes? We never thought we’d be given keys to a little café convenience store that was closing for the season and be told by the shopkeeper “Make your own sandwiches from whatever you can find and if anyone comes in, sell them whatever they want” before he left us there alone for a couple of hours. We also won’t forget the eclectic décor of Thunderbird Lodge, the mooseburgers at Granny’s Cafe or the moaning lighthouse horns on Neah Bay that droned us off to sleep.
Most of all, this morning’s fog lifting moment reminded me that the best things in life are often not what we can plan for or what we expect might happen. I’m gonna keep expecting to be pleasantly surprised by what’s about to be revealed…and that just might take my breath away!
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