27 Days 'til BEA: Of Things To Come

This morning there was a train delay and I found myself waiting with a mob of fellow commuters on the subway platform. The daily crossword puzzle had already been dealt with, so I decided to edit the camera roll on my iPhone. Any number above 100 seems (to me, at least) an absurd amount of photos to carry on one's cell phone, and mine had crept past the 300 mark. With an extra twenty minutes thrust upon me by the Metropolitan Transit Authority, it was the perfect time to perform a thankless task.


I came across this picture, sandwiched between a "selfie" with my kids and a movie of (according to my son Mack) "the worst snowball pitch known to fourth-grade kind." Back in January Mack and I were walking to school the morning after a bitterly cold night. The sidewalk was frozen and our feet cracked the ice beneath us, making radial patterns with every step. We stopped and snapped a shot of one of these patterns because they looked like sunflowers. The irony of the moment was not lost on us. Sunflowers in the wintertime?

When Mack left me on my designated corner (because I am not allowed to walk him all the way to the front of the school), he smiled at me and asked, "so how many days until summer?"

I responded, "Too many!" And he gave me a quick kiss before running off.

I forgot about this picture until now. I forgot about this blissful moment with my son, walking to school and talking about the future. These morning walks still happen, but they are fleeting. And it was nice to be reminded of a perfect one on a morning fraught with train delays and anxious commuters. On the subway platform, it all came rushing back and I found peace despite my surroundings.