The Right Place

When I woke up this morning and came downstairs at the condo (we are down the shore) the news was on the TV and I was reminded of the significance of day.  In fact, the sky was clear and the air was cool, much like it was 9 years ago. 

I decided to take a walk down to the bay beach and back so I donned my sneakers, threw on a sweatshirt, grabbed my camera and sunglasses and headed out.

There's a stretch of the road between here and there that involves an s-curve and I found myself on the opposite side of the road near the marsh.  As I walked on, my attention was caught by a butterfly that I almost ran into.  Remembering that I had my camera in the pouch of my sweatshirt, I thought I would try to get a picture of the butterfly when it lit. 

I stopped walking, turned the camera on, and followed the butterfly with my eyes.  When he lit this is what I saw...........

Anyone driving by might have thought those were just the leaves turning orange, but there were scads of monarch butterflies adorning the branches, drying off in the morning sunlight.  These are only two of the many pictures that I stood there taking.  I'm sure that people passing by in their cars were questioning why I was taking pictures of that tree.  If they only had slowed down, I would have shared this wonderful sight with them.  I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.  I was uplifted by this gift of chance.

When I returned home, the TV news was still on and the reality of the day set in again.  And as we listened periodically throughout the morning to the reading of the names of those who were lost on 9-11-01 I thought again about chance and how those souls had all been in the right place, doing what they were supposed to be doing, but it was the wrong time. 

We usually light candles at the end of our driveway on this day.  Tonight instead we'll be watching the fireworks across the dock.  May each spark be as a prayer for those we lost nine years ago today.  We'll never forget.