Paula Cuttica
ENG 251
Personal Essay #2
Professor Nicholas
2/19/08
Everyday has a new beginning, but often times many of us are too engulfed in dreamland to enjoy it. On Sunday mornings, during my high school years, I would volunteer at the local adult home. I simply sat with the elderly people, sometimes talking, sometimes just sitting with them for companionship. I’ll never forget this one woman, Mrs. Burdett, she had the most amazing life. She traveled tons of places and in a journal, wrote about the most significant part of each travel. She read to me most of these journal entries but one, a sunrise, was the most amazing entry:
“One morning, I felt a part of something unbelievable, almost unexplainable: a Japanese sunrise. Its display was food for the soul. The brilliant colors, acrobatic animals and a feeling of togetherness within the universe consumed me.
It had been a long, rough night of parties and too much alcohol. I had just arrived back at our hostel. I was exhausted, yet I was unable to shut my eyes and drift off. I figured I’d take a walk, calm my nerves, and then return for a peaceful dreamful sleep. While trudging along, I took a seat on the freshly dewed, brown, hardwood park bench. The sun was just starting to rise. It was a site like no other. I couldn’t quite see it, but there was a color of magenta tone radiating through a river of clouds. It appeared as if they were pulsating with it. I was amazed with its beauty. An upside-down, red, fiery bowl slowly appeared over the horizon. The entire sky had morphed from tranquility into a river of fire. It was so wild. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief, and took another look. The clouds seemed as though they were trying to take shape. They appeared like thousands of trains that had no starting or ending point as vivid shades of red separated each one. I looked closer and began to recognize something else in the sky.
At first glance, I thought they were fireflies. However; they were tiny creatures amassed in the sky. As they glided along, in no particular order, I noticed they were bats. Tiny little bats began performing for me. These tiny black creatures put on an acrobatic air ensemble through the pulsating sky. I can only compare it to an air show. For instance, it was as though the blue angels were performing and I could see the smoke they exhaust in order to show their super human maneuvers. With all these things happening at once, I began to have a feeling that I had never experienced before.
The sun was completely up; the sky engulfed with flames. Tiny creatures danced through the pulsations and I had a refreshing feeling fall over me. It was a feeling that can easily be compared to cracking open a cold beverage on a hot steamy day. What I was witnessing was so strong and magnificent. I was at a total loss for words. I sat in complete silence, listening carefully to the world around me. All I could hear were the birds chirping away. There was no car noise, nor any crowds of people. I felt I was one with nature, as if some higher power had put me there to witness this unique experience. I wish, to this day, I had someone with me to experience that marvelous event. I felt a moment of clarity incomparable to any other. It was a moment where time had stood still. I could have sat there in silence for hours.
That morning was breath taking. It was an experience in which I could spend every new morning. I finally knew why Japan was called: The Land of the Rising Sun. The pulsating sky, the dancing bats, and that feeling of oneness are altogether irreplaceable. I have encouraged many to just sit in the silence and watch the sunrise. It’s truly food for the soul. Whenever I haven’t had the greatest of days, I look back to that glorious morning and remember that everyday has a new beginning.”
The first time I heard that story, I got goose bumps. The way she described that sunrise, and what it meant to her was breath taking. Why have I never experienced something that beautiful? And will I ever? Mrs. Burdett was ninety-two when she told me that story, and she still believed that every morning she woke was a new day for her to experience something. It was inspiring to see someone so fragile and elderly be so ambitious. She has since passed away but every time I see a sunrise, I close my eyes, and picture that river of fire Mrs. Burdett saw that morning in Japan.
