Such Does Exist
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I ran out of breath on the road to Mumbai ...
Not for sake of dust or smog or even health. I had rounded a curve on
my motorcycle, and all at once could see in the same view, the skyline of
Mumbai, Matheran Mountain, and a wide swath of the Arabian Sea, and all
was lit with a late-day sun that was as red as the poppies in Patel Nagar,
painting the whole scene with a bright sheen of exquisite hue! There was
a slight misty fog from the sea through the valley around Matheran, that
reached its fingers back towards Pune, and the glow of the sunset illumin-
ated all of it perfectly, making the entire scene into a tapestry of scarlet
lace threaded with gold! For a moment I thought I was dreaming and back
at my hotel in Jaipur, for nothing REAL could be so exquisitely beautiful ...
then I recalled your fiery red chili pepper lips and thought, "Yes - such a
color is INDEED possible!" I caught my breath, and then moved on ...
I had a dizzy spell on the side of Sugarloaf Mountain ...
It was early morning at the mountain on a very stormy day, snow falling
as heavily as I'd ever seen, (even for the Western Maine mountains), and
a bit of wind, too, but not enough to shut down the gondolas. There
were not many people there that early on such a snowy day, so I had
taken the ride to the top alone, and about three-quarters of the way up
the mountain, the gondola came out of the clouds and above the storm,
and the sunshine warmed my core. I was busy getting my skis on and
poles in hand, (and the first part of the trail was north-ward), so it wasn't
until I'd gone a ways thru the amazing powder of the Snow Fields that I
noticed the panorama, and I had to stop to get my balance, for the sake
of what met my eyes ...
The peak of Sugarloaf and the surrounding mountains were sticking up
through the flat cloud layer like islands on a gossamer sea, and the sky
was so blue above that the clouds had taken on a dark azure, the low
sun shining through the lens of atmosphere, adding a glow that was
almost green, and it made for a sight that I'll never come close to de-
scribing, at least in any way that gives it proper scope or a hint of justice.
I stood there transfixed, thinking to myself that I must still be asleep
in my Nana's house back in Kingfield, for nothing REAL could be so
sublimely gorgeous ... then I remembered your extraordinary eyes and
thought, "Yes ... yes - such colors ARE possible!" I steadied myself for
a minute, and then kept on skiing ...
I had a revelation one day in the South Pacific ...
A friend and I were scuba diving off the coast of Vanuatu, just north of
Port Vila and about two miles out in Mele Bay. We were looking for a very
rare "hairy" species of Nautilus called Allonautilus Scrobiculatus, that had
been seen by a lone diver the previous day. We'd been down pretty deep
all morning, floating in twilight and getting a bit frustrated chasing look-
alikes, when we decided to head to the surface and the boat for some
lunch. My buddy had surfaced right by the boat, but I was a bit farther
out, and as I surfaced I was watching what looked like a Tiger Shark,
swimming away from me in the opposite direction, making sure it had no
interest in me, and I unknowingly backed into a school of large jellies.
If you've never done so you can get confused very quickly as to what's
up-or-down, but I'd risen enough to have strong mid-day sunlight
directing me from above, so I stopped surfacing and just enjoyed the
sight ...
All the pinks and oranges and pastels of the jellies, set against the bright
aqua back-ground of the water at around forty feet, and the bright sun
rays piercing all with shafts of brighter blues and greens and white was
exciting enough, but when I looked down toward the deep water, some
of the jellies were glowing against the almost black-blue of the depths,
and the mix of it all was more breathtaking than I can now put to phrase.
I had to immediately adjust my regulator and try not to get too excited,
but it was a once-in-a-lifetime sight, and I couldn't keep my heart from
beating out of my chest! For a brief moment I thought I was still asleep
and dreaming back in my bungalow in Matarisu, because nothing on
Earth could be that stunning ... then I recalled your gloriously radiant
smile and thought, "Yes ... such incredible beauty DOES exist!" I took
a minute to gather my wits together, and then surfaced slowly for lunch ...
You see, I've had a thousand such moments ...
Wonderfully exhilarating moments throughout life - brief periods of won-
der and realization and heart-stopping beauty, and each time it happens
I have to stop and think in consideration of YOU ... not because they
remind me of you, and not because they compare to you, or even resemble
you in any way, (although those things are often happening as well), but
purely because that WITHOUT you, I wouldn't know what TRUE beauty
IS, and every one of these extraordinary, exquisite sights and sublime
moments, would have passed in an instant, forever unappreciated. The
simple, undeniable truth is that, BECAUSE of you ...
Such beauty DOES exist.
Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden | Year Posted 2020
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