Irony

There are some things that really are indescribable. You can string together a laundry list of adjectives that feel like they might be appropriate, but even when mashing them altogether, they seem inadequate. I knew a boy who said that he had seen sunsets that were so amazing that they made him cry. That in and of itself was a little much for me – I appreciate natures beauty as well as being sensitive and introspectivce , but I was left feeling a little conflicted by the thought of him falling apart over the setting of the sun. I’m not that cynical, but the sun DOES set every day, you know?

ANYWAY…

This morning when I was leaving for the day, I pulled to the end of the drive to my subdivision where it meets a relatively busy road across from a shopping complex that includes  (but is not  limited to) a Home Depot, a Pet Smart, and a Walmart. As I was beginning to get impatient waiting to turn left (who the hell do I have to write a letter to for a traffic light to be considered there?!?!?) when I realized that the sky behind Walmart was in the midst of fading from blue, to purple, to pink. The way the colors were moving as the sun was rising was fluid and somehow reassuring. The pastel pool before me was truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen… only it seemed to be happening along the roofline of Walmart.

What the hell? Right? If the Walmart Corporation could conjure a way to sell this amazing spectacle for eighty eight cents to the esteemed American Public, you know that it would. I was instantly imagining this amazing view being cheapened by a room full of corporate whores who wouldn’t dream of shopping in the establishment they spend their days pimping to the generally economically disadvantaged people who shop there.

I have been wondering throughout the day what I am to take from this? Beautiful things can happen in even the ugliest of places? Slow down and appreciate the little things? Even though you can buy an ass-ton of things for eighty eight cents inside of Walmart, the bottom line is that the best things in life really are free?

In the very least, it certainly is ironic to see something so striking behind something so dreadful. I sincerely hope this is not some kind of metaphor that I have yet to grasp. That would be most unfortunate.