missed opportunities

I left the house without my camera this morning. That may not sound like much to you, but to me it's like saying "I left the house without my right arm this morning".
I take my camera with me everywhere I go, almost always, unfortunately today was the exception.
As I headed down the hill into Aromas Emma and I were stunned to be greeted by probably the most close up, brilliant rainbow that ever existed.
Its mythical 'end' seemed to sit right in front of our car.
Emma whispered, "Wow mom, wouldn't it be amazing to stand right in the middle of a rainbow?".
If it hadn't been a school morning I was almost willing to try!
Em naturally said "Take a picture mom!". Ugh. Of all days.
So we each sulked in our missed opportunity while some equally irritating song from the radio invaded our quickly fading, magical rainbow moment.
We zig zagged through the back roads..our usual beautiful trek in the morning, to find that the 'magic' didn't stop at the end of the rainbow.
The trees on the hills had an unearthly green hue to them against the quickly greying sky. Branches showed off their dripping dewy jewels and seemed to just glow.
No way to 'catch the moment'.
As my camera lay quietly on my kitchen counter my aging memory was doing its best to capture these God-pictures on my own.
I reluctantly watched my beautiful daughter leave the warmth of the car and head off to her day.
Her excited chattering of the Winter Ball dance..and newness of the First Boyfriend lingered in my ears and I couldn't prevent the smile that stayed on my face as I drove away.
Small moments, missed opportunities, conversations. They're all around us. They wrap around our business and lay at our feet waiting to be noticed, remembered.

Don't forget your camera.