caught in the moment

Today I left my sociology test completely concerned with so many earthly things.  I was caught up in myself.  My worries, my stress, my wants.  But then I lifted my head and caught sight of the most beautiful orange and red and yellow colors thrown violently against a calm blue sky, and it almost knocked the wind out of me.  I stood there and stared up at the beauty of the autumn leaves above my head, in the middle of the busy common, and I was lost.  Thoughts of so many thanks came swirling up around me.  Thanks for the vibrancy of color, thanks for the ability to see beauty, thanks for being able to feel that beauty in my bones.  All that I had been wrapped up in a moment ago swam away from me in an instant, if only for an instant, and my chest swelled with the feeling of being alive, and human.  The wind blew past me and rustled the leaves, bringing me back to earth.  I smiled, and continued walking on, but I was changed.  I will save the beauty of today for a rainy day, when I forget about the existence of that kind of good.