Focus on the Light

Last weekend I drove to visit a friend that lives 150 miles away from me. Not a big deal, I’ve driven thousands of miles all over the country. However, this drive was unlike any other I’ve taken on over the last nine years. A winter storm warning had just been lifted as I drove through the plains of west central Minnesota. The roads were likely to be treacherous and the winds would be blowing snow across the flat terrain causing reduced visibility. This is winter in Minnesota; definitely not an unusual occurrence. For me, it was. I have traveled and driven in “winter” states, but not in the plains where there is nothing to offset the unmitigated power of the wind. Snow will blow across the road and cover the lanes with swirling wisps of white, hiding the lane and shoulder division lines so you are left to follow the tracks of the vehicles that have gone ahead of you.

The areas I would be driving through had seen rain and warmer temperatures in the days prior. The snow that had been on the roads had melted and they were now only wet. Wet roads are optimum in winter, icy roads, not so much. My friend told me there would be a definitive line I would cross into a particular city. This is where the plains begin and there are no longer buildings to block the wind. The driving conditions would get worse from this point on, which would be about an hour from my destination. I wasn’t worried. I was driving a pick up truck with four-wheel drive and new tires and had made this same trip two weeks earlier. I thought of it as a challenge and a situation I could use to sharpen my survivor skills. The big difference was the weather. The outgoing storm brought colder temperatures and the wetness on the roads turned to ice, creating grooves in the lanes from the tire tracks of the cars and trucks on the road.

Up to the point where I was warned the conditions would change, the roads were decent. I sailed along with no issues. It was evident when I crossed the line into the wide open plains. The lines in the road disappeared from the blowing snow and ice had accumulated where the wetness froze across both lanes. This left one lane to drive on, one track of grooves to follow in. The other lane was covered and most dared not drive on it for fear of ice lurking underneath. I took the safe route and followed the grooves. I was able to maintain a 50 mph speed limit as were most of the cars and trucks I encountered. There wasn’t a lot of traffic. This was a rural area, so this is fairly normal, however, the poor conditions made for even less traffic.

I got into a rhythm in the tracks I was following. Some parts weren’t that bad, but I didn’t feel comfortable taking my eyes off the road and held tighter to the steering wheel than I normally would. I had to be hyper-focused and alert and it made me a bit tense. I tuned in to my favorite radio station and sang out loud to offset the tension. The cloudy skies suddenly opened up on my side of the road. There were identical prisms on either side of the sun with its circular glow centered between them. A circle of light with matching prisms filled the entire western horizon with a picture so stunning I gasped as my eyes left the road and I beamed with joy in what I was seeing.

My tension disappeared. I prayed out loud and thanked God for the distraction. I had already been praying out loud along the way to keep me safe (and for any other vehicles that crossed my path). Now I couldn’t take my eyes off of what I was seeing. I felt like I had opened the bureau doors and somehow crossed into some fantasyland like Narnia. Was C.S. Lewis about to take me on on a journey? I love taking pictures of nature, anything in the great outdoors will do. I knew what I was seeing was a somewhat rare occurrence. I have lived in Minnesota for nearly fifty years and have only witnessed this one other time. It was a phenomena called sun-dogs.

According to Wikipedia this is the definition:
A sun dog (or sundog) or mock sun, formally called a parhelion in meteorology, is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that consists of a bright spot to one or both sides of the Sun. Two sun dogs often flank the Sun within a 22° halo. The sun dog is a member of the family of halos, caused by the refraction of sunlight by ice crystals in the atmosphere. Sun dogs typically appear as a pair of subtly colored patches of light, around 22° to the left and right of the Sun, and at the same altitude above the horizon as the Sun.

I had to get a picture, but needed to find a safe place to pull off or find a side road to park on. It was too dangerous to stop on the shoulder and I was forced to pass more than one side road because they either weren’t visible past the sign identifying them, or the blowing snow created drifts so high I didn’t dare drive through even though I was in a four-wheel drive truck. I was afraid the sundogs were going to disappear and I would lose my opportunity to get a photo and share it with the masses. This magnificent phenomena remained for nearly an hour, the entire last hour of my drive. I found a safe place to pull off and took a handful of pictures. It was very cold standing outside as the wind slapped my cheeks. I could feel them turn red as my determination won and kept me warm. These pictures were worth the brief suffering.

I was gifted the sundogs during the absolute worst part of my drive. Having such a view for a full hour not only gave me an adrenaline rush, I felt a sense of elation. I was grateful for something so incredibly astonishing to focus on instead of the tension I was stuck in while concentrating on the precarious conditions around me. As quickly as the horizon had been so beautifully painted, the clouds took over as if to cover the sundogs and halo with a gray canvas. A mile or so before I reached my destination, the clouds disappeared again and revealed the sundogs with a blazing orange setting sun. My heart smiled as I was able to capture a few more photos when I stopped.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I arrived safely. I said a prayer of thanks for showing me what I should focus on; the light and the beauty that surround me. This is true not only in nature, but in life. It has served me well. Where I have kept my eyes on the blessings/good things that come, despite and from, the adversities I have faced, I remain in a state of peace and calm. When my focus is on the chaos, the storms appear un-chartered. When I trust the light and keep my eyes stayed on it, I become an able navigator and get through the storms.

This experience was an important reminder, especially coming into a new year. I will remain focused on the light and beauty around me and not allow the chaos to keep me tense. I will take red, wind beaten cheeks any day to keep seeing what I did. The storms of life can ensue while I stare into the sky and trust that I will always be safe.