Gloom

The famed “June gloom” has arrived here on the peninsula. I think this is what people warned us about when they said summers are foggy and cool. The assumption was that this is undesirable.

Can I tell you how exciting it is to take my morning walk in long sleeves and not come back covered in sweat? Even on misty mornings I head out. I see more otters on those days, for some reason, and the birds seem louder, too. Everything looks soft and smells so fresh.

What got to me in the DC area was days on end without sun. That one May when I became addicted to my afternoon coffee was particularly difficult. Here, even the gloom can be bright, and, like today, there are almost always some hours of bright sun.

The “gloom” may be here, but it is not making me gloomy. I wonder about the lessons we might learn from this season of the year that we could apply to this season of our lives, when gloom - simultaneous physical, emotional, and spiritual crises - is covering the land. Where are the bright spots in the clouds? What can we see and hear better? Might we be willing to venture out into the mist and see?