my aha moment

each day i take bayli to preschool, we drive by a soccer field.
and every time we drive by it. i see at least one car parked on the side of the road adjacent to the park where a lone tree and picnic table are.
sometimes the passengers are in their vehicles. sometimes they are sitting at the table looking out across the field of green. other times they are far off in the distance walking through the park.
at 9:30 in the morning i can understand why someone would be out walking through the park, but i did not understand why they were parked on the side of the road adjacent to this tree.
i began to notice that the vehicles and passengers were often the same. there were around 15 different vehicles that i could easily pick out as previous parkers (i know that sounds bad). majority of them were males with a few females from their late 30s to 70s.
i began to wonder why time and time again i would see these same vehicles and passengers at this location. i mean, who parks at a soccer field at 9:30 in the morning anyways?
sometimes there would be more than one vehicle at a time.

i began to think that it was someones drug drop zone. i imagined the events that were taking place there each time i drove by with my babies in the backseat and cringed. i speculated calling the local police department and having them pull a little stakeout job to see what was really going on.
i thought of doing this myself. i was experienced with this type of work once in my life, like 11 yrs ago. my sister-in-law angie's vehicle had been broken into in the apartment complex her family was living in at the time, along with a slew of others. her wallet had been stolen. somehow (my memory is a little shady on the details because i am getting older) we found out the location of the culprit. jed, angie, and i decided to do our own stakeout. we were eager to see the cops pull up to the thieves home, brandish their weapons, and take the villain back to headquarters in cuffs. after we sat there for at least an hour, we realized that the cops weren't showing up that night. sadly we drove back home, our excitement fizzling away.
i decided that doing my own stakeout of the park would be lame, boring work.
so i continued with my drive by speculations.

i pass the park 4 times, between drop off and pick up, 3 times a week. that's 12 times a week that i was able to check out the goings on at the park. i was very keen to the surroundings, at least i thought.

it took a snow storm the day before and a bright beautiful blue sky morning, nearly four months after i began these drivebys, for me to realize the events that were really taking place.

as i glanced at the vehicle ahead, recognizing it and it's passenger immediately, it hit me. in the distance, past the park, across the valley, was the most perfect uninterrupted view of the wasatch mountains. it was a breathtaking view, made more breathtaking by the white magic gracing it.

don't act like i don't notice the mountains that i am graced with each day. because i do view them each and every day. we have beautiful mountain views from our home (at least until the neighbors trees grow and block the view). the roadways surrounding our neighborhood offer many views of both the oquirrh and the wasatch mountains.
most of the time i am driving and only get moments to view their beauty.

this location at the park offered you the ability to stop and enjoy the moment.

so gone are the days of imagining crack and meth dealers meeting to give their regular clients a little fix. and don't get the idea that i live in "a bad part of town," because i don't. these drug exchanges can take place in any kind of area, at least that is what the discovery and history channels tells me.

i am grateful that my eyes were opened to see what others were relishing. their secret spot for daily exchange with mother earth is now my own.
and if you happen to be driving by when i am pulled off to the side of the road adjacent to the tree at the edge of the soccer field, no i am not up to bad business, i am merely getting my daily dose of god is greatness. and if you want, stop and take a minute with me, you will not be disappointed.