During my 26+ years serving as a District Court Judge, I
have spent a significant amount of time on the road, traveling to other
courthouses to preside as well as on other official business. Over that time, I have put on well over 200,000
miles in service of the State of Minnesota,
and this doesn’t even count the daily 16-mile round trip to the Sibley County
Courthouse!
A lot of the time, the commute has been routine, even dull. Listening to the radio or a book on tape (OK,
I’m dating myself once again!) passes some of the time.
Occasionally, however, the unexpected brings me back to
realize the beauty of this world. One
such time I was traveling to court in the morning, north about 14 miles of
pretty straight county road. The sun was
rising to my right. It was up just
enough to illuminate the breast of a rooster pheasant standing on the side of
the road, making his brightly colored feathers seems almost ablaze. How lucky I was, I thought, to have such
beauty to help me start the day.
Then, a mile or so later, another pheasant with the same
blazing colors firing my imagination.
Then another and another.
By the time I had turned off that road, I had passed six
rooster pheasants, each one blazing more brilliantly in the morning sun than
the one I had passed earlier. An amazing
trip!
Another morning, the dew was heavy as the sun rose. As the road turned from heading north to
east, the sun struck the dew on hundreds – no, thousands! – of spider webs in
the tall grass of the road ditch. Mile
after mile of sparkling diamonds suspended between the grasses in magnificent
patterns. It was prayer-inspiring!
The final mental image I will recall happened one evening as
I was heading home from court or a meeting.
As I turned to head west, my rearview mirror was almost completely
filled by a breathtaking full moon just above the horizon.
The moon followed me for perhaps a half hour, when either it
rose or I turned. While that full moon
continued to be beautiful to behold, the stunning splendor I had first seen in
the mirror was gone.
Far too seldom, I rouse myself out of routine to watch for
the surprising beauty that surrounds each of us every day. I whisper a prayer of thanks for the
opportunity to quit worrying about the past or planning for the future to enjoy
the exquisite beauty of the present.
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Next Week: Making
Policy
