HAVE YOU EVER…?

A series of essays….

“LET THE SUN SHINE, LET THE SUNSHINE IN”

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

A spider’s web, much to my surprise, wrapped itself around my shoulders this morning as I stepped out on the back deck to capture the early morning light filtering through the adolescent leaves of our maples, sassafras, and oaks. Thinking of how our spirits can be lifted by the mere sight of sunlight penetrating the objects surrounding us and that we often take little heed of during grey, gloomy weather, I snapped several pictures before reentering the house through our knotty alder French doors.

Have you ever wondered about the nocturnal activity that surrounds you while you’re sleeping all snuggled within the soft folds of bed linens and surreal dreams of past, present, and future? As plantings cool down from the heat of the day only to be served up as delicious and colorful salad for the herds of deer roaming the landscaped lawns in the safety and comfort of night shadows. The artistic spider weaves its smooth, glossy, and intricate tapestry of threads stretching from one ceramic pot to another; one deck chair back to the built-in bench our grandchildren love to sit and play on. Walking through that delicate tapestry was like entering a new dimension in time and space; a porthole by which one transitions from the darkness of night into the morning’s light!

Have you ever looked into the depths of a child’s eyes (your own grandchild’s eyes) and felt you could dive into them as if they were the bottomless pools of untapped knowledge, unchartered hope, and limitless love you had been seeking all of your life?

Have you ever questioned yourself for any reason? From: “Should I have purchased that dress in navy blue instead of red?” To: “Would working for the renowned law firm in downtown Orlando be more prudent and fulfilling than working for an established builder in Celebration?” We make our choices along the way and to second guess them after the fact would be an imprudent thing to do. Acceptance of our personal selections in life and working hard to make them fit us comfortably has been the joy of living in a ‘free country’ awash with personal opportunities and benefits. What if the ideals behind the words free, opportunities, and benefits were stripped away from us due to the color of our skin? What if we were all made to wear navy blue instead of being able to opt for the color red?

Have you ever thought about losing your freedom and the individual rights we share as citizens of this country? Have you ever wondered about the wisdom of old men and women with shocks of white and dyed hair that harbor the need for corruption and greed? I know that change can be counteracted by more change and good shall rise from the depths of evil and that it requires patience and lots of hard work to make that happen. Retaining our democracy is so worth all we have to give to make that happen!

THE SUN RISES OVER THE BUILT-IN
BENCH OUR GRANDCHILDREN LOVE

Have you ever woken up in a place that was not your own bedroom and wondered where in the world you were? For over four, long years we questioned our grasp of normalcy which shifted from stability to trying to understand the jealous negativism surrounding a man whom we wanted to believe signed up to lead us into a brighter future. As he still, even after losing the election of 2020, pounds his lies into vulnerable people hoping to prove what most of us do not understand, I know that his was not the world I’d signed up for or expected for myself and my children. His blatant disregard for life and the pursuit of happiness never represented the cozy bedroom I fell asleep in the night before.

Have you ever felt less threatened and more loved than ever since the establishment of the Biden/Harris administration? My heart is more at peace now than it has been for years. Knowing that good change is happening with so much more to come brings such deep joy to all of us who helped make this change happen in November of 2020. We cannot afford to have this precious right to vote taken away from any single one of us by ignorant people who embrace and value white supremacy as a privilege they fully believe is theirs to flaunt as the truth.

I keep my camera on the oak library table that stands tall against the wall nearest the set of French doors in the dining room. It’s convenient to snag it on my way out the door on an early morning photo shoot. My evening adventures are slightly less conducive to walking through spider’s webs, fortunately. However, when the warm light of a firefly is enclosed within laced fingers and emits a surreal glow like minute rays of green-tinted moonlight, do we not wonder in amazement at how special our life truly is?

Later in the day, when I slowly turn around and look up into the sun that gently peeks out over our roofline, I think how it resembles a magnificent, sparkling palm tree. It’s fronds seem to be protecting our house as if they were gigantic, gossamer arms spun by a giant counterpart of the spider that had impressed me earlier in the morning. My heart is full; my world appeased.

Have you ever felt so loved that you just know that everything is going to be okay? That it would be worth while giving ourselves and the future another chance at getting it right?

“SO LET THE SUN SHINE IN, FACE IT
WITH A GRIN, SMILERS NEVER LOSE
AND FROWNERS NEVER WIN.”

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

Photos © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved