Life can be cold, dismal and dreary at times, but you never know when the lifescape can change completely.

These two pictures were taken one hour and five minutes apart.

In the first one, we tried to fish on the dock, but it was cold and blustery.  The water was a steel sheet that kept undulating and carrying the line backwards into the weeds.  The clouds were a menacing, purple grey, hanging low and heavy.

The fact that in this glorious summer, we had to put on our jackets and sweaters for the first time, made it more depressing. Eventually, we gave up and decided to try out the trails.

Amid jumping frogs and busy grasshoppers, we made our way through a cut grass path, towards a small, heavily wooded area.   Other than getting startled by an extremely slender snake on the side, it was an interesting jaunt.  There were two beaver cut trees, which were still a work in progress, and interesting holes in the ground.  I wasn’t going to knock on those doors, especially after having seen one possible owner slithering past.

Twenty minutes later, we emerged to striking blue skies, with little brilliant white puffy clouds, dreamily moving along.  Twenty minutes after that, we got back to the dock where we were freezing and huddled an hour earlier.

The water had changed to a deep blue, it was calmer, and the landscape had changed.

So yes, life can be cold, dismal and dreary at times, but you never know when the lifescape can change completely.

We never know how deep into the trenches we are, or how close we are to the top.  We don’t know when the winds will change, and when the menacing clouds will disappear.  We don’t know when the clouds will move apart to let the sun come out and make our lives bright again.

So many unknowns make the world a difficult, but an exciting place to live in.  During difficult times we can take little detours and side trips to find new and different aspects we didn’t know existed, appreciating when we don’t step into deeper snakier situations, observing the hard work of others trying to get ahead (beavers), and finally emerge into a brighter, better world when the time is right.

Dock those hopes, the sun always comes out.