Everyday Miracles

I

Climbing from my car at the rest area, I caught sight of a lovely vision.

Evening sunlight filtered through the branches of a huge old tree and bathed the scene in a golden glow. 

Gorgeous, I thought. Perfect for a photo. 

But at the same instant, I noticed a deal breaker. Between the ancient maple and the setting sun lay six lanes of congested urban expressway. Cars and trucks roared by in a steady stream and with a heavy heart, I realized that the odds of capturing the peaceful landscape without a slew of machinery in the middle ground seemed nigh unto impossible. 

Whatever, I thought. I've got nothing to lose. Let's give it a go. 

So I grabbed my camera and began to shoot, trying to synchronize the snap of my camera with the brief, almost nonexistent gaps in the traffic. I found it quite difficult to sense when the time was right, so I took eight photos of the tree and the sun, hoping that I might luck out and get at least one shot that was not overrun by the nonstop traffic. 

Imagine my shock and utter amazement when I checked my camera roll. Of the eight shots, one of them includes a single red car. The other seven feature a big old tree, a golden sun, the beautiful light of evening, a simple ribbon of roadway...and no traffic whatsoever. 

Amazing, I thought. Miracles really do happen every day.

But how often we overlook them.