just before the explosion

This is so not the most important point to make about the explosion that happened in Portland yesterday, but it reminds me of how easy it is to forget to notice the beauty (even just visually) in our everyday lives. Every winter, I look back on fall and think to myself, did I look at the autumn trees enough? This year, because something wondrous is happening in my life with City of Weird, I keep consciously staring around me at the colors and the flutter of falling leaves. Trying to memorize the feeling of looking at the beauty of this particular fall.

On my way to work, I always drive down Glisan, past 23rd, to 24th, to jog over to my favorite street, 25th, in Northwest Portland, with the little roundabouts and lovely trees, but I also love to drive down 23rd, especially in winter when it's all lit up with twinkle lights. Winter is when my drive route usually changes from 25th to 23rd, but yesterday, when I got to the corner of Glisan and 23rd about twenty minutes before the gas leak was discovered that led to the amazingly efficient evacuation of the block before the explosion happened, I turned and looked down 23rd at the stretch of beautiful old buildings under orange leaves and blue sky. 

For a split second, I thought, drive down 23rd today. For a split second, because I didn't have my blinker on, I thought, eh, I'll do it tomorrow, no Friday, because I don't work tomorrow, yeah, I'll do it Friday. For a split second, I thought, but the sky is blue today. 

So I drove down 23rd and consciously noticed the beauty all the way down. Odd that some of that beauty is suddenly gone and the street will be blocked off, maybe for as long as the fall leaves are in the trees. And then again, next year when the leaves are back, yes, the street will be healed and pretty again.