July 4 is coming and people will be acting a fool with the fireworks in my neighborhood, but upon reflection I understand: people need to have something to celebrate, some outward sign of rejoicing.
But I wonder sometimes: are we overlooking everyday ways to find joy?
San Francisco is in the "June gloom" period of the summer weather ... the sea fog keeps the weather cool here as opposed to much of the weather in this region of California. Thank God for natural air conditioning ... it is so much harder to commute by walking everywhere when it is very hot ... and it makes the sunnier days and flashes of color more appreciated when they come!
On a sunny moment of a day with plenty of fog, I was walking down the street and noticed this collection of sunny blossoms ...
...upon closer examination they became even more beautiful...
At about that time I noticed that the car parked by them was the same color as the poppies, and, well, do you see what I see in that car's fine polish?
I have not been able to get to my city's watersides and their reflections lately, but I found what I was looking for in the way that I was going ... no wonder those flowers were so beautiful, ready for their mirror to drive up!
Because of the color of the car, the reflection gives you a sense of the true deep yellow of those flowers more so than you can get with them in that bright sunlight -- a shot in the shade of some of the same type flowers shows this:
So, color correction just drove up on those flowers on the street in their moment in the sun!
I had to really stop and think about all this in the middle of a workaday type of day with sunshine every now and then ... with drive-by reflections and color corrections, fireworks shooting up out of the ground ... slightly hidden treasures ... this tiny reflection of the sun and its corona peeking through the green...
... and fully revealed with just a little help...
I could be down about the workaday world and all that is going wrong in it, and about June fog and cold temperatures ... the temptation is there ... OR, I can choose to look for the moments of joy available in common, everyday grace all around ... and I put the same choice before you this Monday!