Monday, February 25, 2019

Inadvertent sunset

Reflection on a brilliant street
Montreal, QC
February 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram
Someone once told me the best moments are the unexpected ones, that reach out to you when you're busy doing something else, and least expect something special to happen.

Like this one.

I was walking back to the hospital on an ice-choked, crumbling sidewalk barely wide enough for one, let alone oncoming directions of late-afternoon Saturday pedestrian traffic on this busy commercial artery. That's long been the norm in this alternately beautiful, yet badly run city of stunning architecture and barely-maintained roads. My head was down not because I was deep in thought, but because I was focused on self-preservation.

The sun hadn't yet set, but densely-built neighborhoods tend to cast shadows over the surrounding streets long before the sun dips below the horizon. So with no expectations of photographic glory in my immediate future, I had safely tucked the camera into my backpack and was carefully making my way back to the hospital.

As I crossed the street - ironically, Jean-Brillant Road - I picked up a slash of light out of the corner of my eye. As soon as it appeared, it was gone, but it was enough to snap me out of my pedestrian-induced coma. I quickly zeroed in on a bank of windows halfway down the block, blindingly reflecting the western sky, but only if I stood in one particular spot. Half a step either way and it winked out. The universe was calling me again, so down went the bag, and out came the camera.

I didn't seek the sunset on this late-afternoon walk. Rather, the sunset sought me out - and clearly found me. An unexpected moment at a time when all I saw was darkness, and all I wanted to do was finish my journey safely. Sometimes the universe has other plans, and we'd do well to take the time to heed them.

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