Farmington Bay at Sunset

Stake Conference this afternoon focused on how precious time and agency are. Great counsel was given about decision-making and choosing the best over the good.  Maybe I should have done other things this evening with my time, but a long, hard week left me longing for beauty and quiet, a place to unwind and be slow. I headed out to Farmington Bay with the hopes of seeing the graceful flight of some bald eagles, which usually congregate there this time of year.

There were no eagles this day -- the weather has been so unusually warm (almost scarily so) that it may have them elsewhere.  But every time I come here I think "I should do this more often." It doesn't rank very high among the great smells in the world, but sights and sounds more than compensate.

As sun fell toward night, I watched my little town in the warm evening light, and thought about the hundreds of hours I spent not far from this spot, working with a grandfather whose love of "fussing" (finding and applying himself--and us--to any task that might improve the world) and belly-deep chuckle still make me smile.

The lifegiving peaks of the Wasatch range towered in the distance, a nice reminder of yesterday's ski trip with the daughter I love so much. The power of the sun and light amazed me as windows many miles away painted streaks across the bay in front of me.

Without another soul in sight, I watched gold come to life in every drop of water in heaven or on earth.

And the sounds.  Hundreds of snow and Canadian geese welcomed compatriots with the happy honking only a goose can make. Ducks quacked, seagulls did whatever they do, and there was no other noise to interrupt this orchestra of primordial sound.

As I turned to walk back to my car, owls flew around me in the near dark. All told, it was  exactly what I needed.  Perhaps that means I chose the best over the good, though convention might suggest otherwise.