Sunset

The Dog Days of summer are the sultriest, toughest days of the season.

Every now and then you get a preview of the warmth of that beloved season in the middle of a cold winter...

and the sun rays gleam on your skin..
and the wind blows through your hair..
and you ride through the California freeway system with the top down, feeling alive.

But its the circle of life... As sure as the crest today.. .following soon after is a trough.
and sometimes you descend into it like quicksand...at other times it hits you like a ton of bricks...

and the sense of taste leaves your tongue..
and the appetite leaves your stomach..
and the thought of slumber leaves your body..
all while you wonder why it is those who least deserve it suffer most.

Whether its those hit by the tsunami in Japan
or perhaps those hit by the vagaries of life a lot closer to home..
you wonder...and you pity... and you mourn..

Some mourn in company, others in solitude..
its undeniable..there is grief in loss, and we all deal with it... in our own way..

and in the midst of those gloomy, cloudy days..
right in the middle of dealing with the cocktail of emotions you never knew even existed..
as you stare aimlessly at the horizon, wondering when it will be dawn again...
you witness unbridled joy...
like that on the face of a newborn's father,
or the satisfaction at the first bite of a chocolate chip cookie at the end of a fasting day..
and you finally start appreciating the hairpin turns in the journey we call life..

and if only for a brief few moments..
the sun shines again...
the wind blows again

and from the trenches of your heart, you let out a wry smile.