On Beauty

This morning, I stepped outside. Yesterday was cold and windy, the day before was warm and rainy-so rainy we still have flood warnings posted. Today, because of the time change, the sun isn't up yet, but it has brightened to a blue twilight, the ground is covered with a sprinkling of snow, and there is a huge, orange-sickle colored moon hanging just over the knife-edged silhouette of the trees. The air is crisp and cold, but full of smells and sounds--the pleasing smell of hardwood smoke from the neighbors chimney, a train whistle on the other side of town, the mourning dove in the little tree in the front yard. It is good.