New Daze...

They say that every day is a new day...

When you've been getting up before sunrise for just about all of your adult life: when first reveille was sleeping in, that day starts pretty early.

This morning, Tuesday morning, I stopped for coffee while it was still pitch black. The only thing breaking the darkness were the street lamps and a steady stream of headlamps... That, and the distinct sound of each vehicle as it passed by in that steady stream of vehicles I mentioned just a moment ago.

There are times when I slide out of my car, walk around to the trunk to grab all the stuff I transport back and forth to the shop every day, and have to stop and stare at the sky. This morning was one of those times. It rained yesterday and  after a good rain Southern California has a crisp, clear freshness I'm not sure you can experience many other places. It was so incredible I had to stop and at least try to capture the moment. It's probably the last moment filled with the same promise I'm likely to experience until tomorrow morning at about the same time... and tomorrow morning will bring with it its own different and distinct menu of possibilities.

This is one of those times I really try to force myself to realize how lucky I am to be doing what I love, with people I respect and enjoy, for people who have come to mean a great deal to me. I think that's something worthy of reflection even if only for a moment because I'm not sure there are many others who can say that and mean it. And, while there is no guarantee that today will be better than yesterday, there isn't any guarantee it will be worse...

The gift is in knowing that while we may not be able to control what happens in the course of a new day: something that too often may leave us dazed and confused, we can at least try to exert a measure of control on how we react to it.

If that's meditating you just may find me sitting cross-legged in my driveway tomorrow morning, staring at the eastern sky...