In The Eye
September 28, 2012Vinchenzo L. Olivero
9/25/2012
Adv. Eng. Comp
Period.4
“In The Eye Of The Beholder”
The harsh realities and imperfections of life were erased at the spot. It was my escape to a place of solitude and peace. It gave me a sense of serenity and freedom that enveloped my mind. I found this spot one early afternoon, while driving down a mountain near my house in Colorado Springs. When I saw it, I slammed on the brakes and got out of the truck to admire such beauty. It was a small out look at the edge of a street lining a cliff that over looked the complex beauty of Colorado Springs. The expanse of the view extended all the way out to the unpopulated plain and I could clearly see the horizon. I don’t know why this spot was so magical, but somehow or other it felt like an addiction therefore, almost every other day since, I would return to that spot, late at night, where silence gave me a certain focus on the present. This view was even more mesmerizing at night, for the lights reflected off the clouds leaving a radiant mystical haze that ran parallel to the horizon. That thin line of haze faded in altitude as the dark sky with twinkling diamonds embraced the quiet city. I wanted others to feel the power I did. That power up high at the edge of a cliff on a mountain, were nothing really mattered, just imperturbation and contentment.
Every friend I knew would hear about the spot, and most would see it with me. My friend Tonya and I started retrieving to the spot almost every night, just talking and looking over the near aerial illustration of the city but, there was one thing that grew into a hate about the spot. It was a scar that hindered the full aspect of the glowing city. We realized that a couple of houses created a visual blockade to the entire northern half of Colorado Springs. We would discuss every time how we hated those houses being there, for this spot seemed to be molded by the hands of God, and tarnished by the ugly of human creation. Honestly, that hindrance of sight became at least a portion of every conversation, while admiring the view. We didn’t understand why such beauty would be contaminated with houses and cars. We wished that the architecture blocking the view wasn’t there…Then came the fire.
When I returned to Lanagan Avenue after a long 2 week vacation, desolates devoured the spot. It was cold, late in the night, when I returned to see my escape destroyed. The haze that once seemed to parallel the horizon was the mask that covered the face of the city. I could see that pretense mask from the spot… and it was eating away at my mind set. The trees only two hundred feet away from me were charred, and black. It was that black that enveloped my surroundings, for the majority of the houses around the spot were eradicated. Just the darkness of those trees remained. The light of the stars was barricaded by a canvas of smoke that still remained from the fire. That eerie haze reflected the light from the city, and seemed to light up the sky with a similar light to the fire that caused the destruction. The only thing that remained unaffected by the fire was the sound, the sound of quiet. A cold breeze was the only thing I could hear as the solemn silence added to a melancholy feeling in my soul. That silence muted me as it endorsed a sorrowful atmosphere that encompassed me. I was speechless.
Ever since that night, I’ve had a larger respect for the fence. That average cliché stating that the grass is not greener on the other side ringed in my ears as I reflected on how I would complain about the houses that blocked the view. There I stood, in the darkness, standing in the shade of my personal Bodhi Tree, when I learned a certain respect for beauty. I understand now, that the flaws of something, some place, some person, is what makes them so beautiful.
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”
-Albert Einstein
Posted by Olivero Productions Staff.