And because I appreciate balance in most things, I try to plan some down time occasionally. Yes, I am aware of the contradiction of scheduling free time, but it must be done. My plan on this day was to use my wee early morning hours to sip my coffee and read my book, a book to be discussed at an upcoming book club gathering. (There's that commitment thing again.) The meeting was on Wednesday. Here it was the Sunday prior and I hadn't read so much as the dust jacket.
So I planned it. I'm an early riser. The first sip of coffee is always when it's still dark and the world is quiet. I had my coffee, I had my book, I had it all laid out in front of me, and in an instant the plan fell apart.
Or maybe having that plan fall apart was the plan, in some grand design of the universe kind of way.
What happened was that I looked outside to that quiet world, and through the darkness just before dawn I saw some magnificent clouds forming up on the western horizon, not yet lit. I saw more clouds to the east, with breaks where the sun might pop out once it broke the horizon. I recognized it all as a potentially magical morning of beautiful light and I couldn't resist the urge to be out there in it.
That light was simply extraordinary. And a rainbow to boot.
Sometimes plans must be abandoned without regret. Besides, I had a long drive ahead of me and could download the audiobook.