Simple Pleasures

Saturday was a momentous day
As far as natural phenomena are concerned!

First the maple tree in the front yard
was set ablaze by the eastern rays of the sun.
The flame-colored leaves shone with a light
that made me exclaim, “o-o-o, look!” to my husband
who had called me in to look
out of the window in the first place.

We stood, arms wrapped around each other,
and soaked in the warmth of the scene
unfolding minute-by-minute before our eyes.
I thought to myself that
things could not get any better than this,
but I did not know what Universal Omnipotence
had in mind for me and any interested fellow earthlings.

My friend and I drove out the Baltimore Washington Parkway
as we returned from a late afternoon shopping expedition.
All of a sudden, the sky was graced
by a sunset like I have never seen before.
Fireworks from an Unseen Hand painting the sky
with vibrant colors exploded toward the west.
The sky took on the strangest but most exquisite
palette of colors that have ever been played
across the sky and through the clouds.

As we watched, pointed, and o-o-oed ,
I pulled to the shoulder of the road,
and we sat in meditative silence as
the magentas, the oranges, the pinks, and passionate purples
settled into the quietness of the gloaming.