Morning Moments

This morning I took a drive to Lake Elmo Park in Billings Heights. Among the destruction from the storm and tornado that ravaged through on Sunday and the trepidation of its aftermath, it seemed I needed a quiet dose of nature (while nature was being quiet).
Upon my arrival, it was easy to see the simplicity that only a handful of others were enjoying that morning. The water was pristine and calm and colored with the orange and red of the morning sunrise. The recent rains had made the grass a deep, rich green and what seemed like a hundred bird softly sang their morning song. An elderly gentleman prepared his rod and reel and settled in beside a series of redwood picnic tables. A young mother and her daughter strolled along the shore while wearing coordinating pink dresses. The park’s groundskeeper worked carefully grading the sand along Montana’s version of a beach.
Among the hardships so many Billings, Columbus and Sheridan residents are facing now, the quiet hum of everyday life is still being echoed in our tiny nook of the world.
Despite the rattling events, I chatted with customers today about baseball games and grandkids – topics that come up everyday. Some of them were sitting 20 feet away from their car with severe hail damage and broken windshields. One customer from Columbus so quietly mentioned he had $30,000 in damage to his home that I had to ask him to repeat himself. And as he did, he just grinned and said, “It could have been a lot worse.”
A lot could be interpreted from my brief visit to the lake and my morning chat with our patrons; and if I were a more eloquent writer, I might be able to put words to it. But in its simplest form, it seems to come down to words like composure, perseverance and new beginnings. And while there certainly is a great deal of work still to be completed, my morning reminded me to keep my feet grounded and my eyes on each morning’s sunrise.