Let There Be Light

streetlight

MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

We were driving along an ugly, commercial stretch of street around sundown last week when I looked up and saw this sight. Luckily we were stopped at a traffic signal, and I always keep my little camera handy, so I managed to take this picture. I wasn't sure if it would ever find its way to the blog because I really had no story to go with it, but I've decided it's just a good reminder to look around now and then. Even in this crowded, tattered place, the sky was asserting itself in all its glory.

Also, although it was certainly not as spectacular, it brought to mind a moment I'd witnessed one summer evening several years earlier in Manhattan. The setting sun, aligned precisely with the street grid, at one perfect instant shot a beam of fiery light between the canyon walls of the buildings, simultaneously illuminating both the north and south sides and casting a glowing radiance upon everything.

There's another view of it, above.  I was in Times Square when this happened, visiting the city with my friend Kelley. I stopped spellbound in my tracks and let that gorgeous light wash over me. Everything was transformed for an instant into something utterly transcendent, and then it passed. I later learned that this phenomenon occurs only twice a year, and we were just lucky to be there.Maybe that's the point: we're just lucky to be here. And wonders are forever unfolding. And once in a while we notice.