Perceptions

There was a brief break in the weather that felt like October around here.
After days of wind and rain and grey it was lovely.
I'm sure we will pay for it come February, but it was nice to see a last flare of autumn before winter settles in.
Sitting outside eating lunch made me consider how how perceptions are influenced by as many external forces as internal.
A 60 degree day in August would be met with sweaters, but in November people weren't even wearing coats.
Last month when we were in Ohio for my nephew's wedding i overheard my brother describing the foliage to his wife back home. They live in Virginia Beach where there are 4 distinct seasons, but few trees to mark the passage of summer to winter. He couldn't get over how beautiful it was out in the country, no matter where you looked.

He said Even the dead corn is beautiful here. 

When we talked about it later he insisted that the corn was a different shade of gold in Ohio than it was in Virginia.
 Though i think that might be true I can't help but wonder today if maybe he was just seeing the same thing in a different way because of the different setting and the festive mood of the day.

 

I wonder if we can will ourselves to see something different in our every day lives. 

(do you see the rainbow in that picture?) 

I wonder if simply wanting to see things
 differently
means that we can.