Go and the Sun Will Follow

Go and the sun will follow. If you had to sum my friend Sheri up in one phrase, that would be it. That's her life philosophy. The companion to that is, "There's no bad weather, just inappropriate clothing." That one belongs to Sheri's friend Dan. They're both true and if you had to live your life by just one philosophy, either one would stand you in pretty good stead I think.

The first time I ever heard her say it, it was her birthday many years ago. It might have been the first birthday I ever spent with her. Anyway, it was raining. No. It was hailing. We were headed out to Borrego Springs for a hike. We drove north along highway 67 - in the hail - thinking that this hike was NOT a good idea. Well, I was thinking that. Sheri was thinking: Go and the sun will follow. We stopped at Santa Ysabel at Dudley's bakery on the way. There was snow on the ground. I don't think I even had a jacket with me. But this is what Sheri told us: Go and the sun will follow. So we went. And, if you want to know the truth, that's exactly what happened. We drove over the ridge and down into Borrego Springs - the skies cleared, the sun shone, the wildflowers sparkled orange and yellow in the spring sunlight. I know, it sounds like I'm making that up. But, seriously, that's what happened. And, to topi it off, we had a great hike.

"Go and the sun will follow" is really not a life philosophy about weather though; it's all about attitude. It's a fancier way of saying, "think positive" (but its specificity helps it ring truer). I hadn't thought about Sheri's life philosophy in a while until today when I realized that I had followed it. Sometimes I guess things are just so "right" that you stop thinking about them and just start living them. That's what happened today when we decided to go ahead with our plan to go to SeaWorld even though the geniuses at the National Weather Service said that there was a 100% chance of rain. When we got up this morning the sky was looking pretty grey and threatening and it definitely seemed like the meteorologists would win this round. But we packed our raincoats, donned our boots and went ahead and went anyway. Rain be damned. Another life philosophy applied here (my mom's): "you won't melt."

Needless to say, not only did it NOT rain (at all) today, it was actually sunny and warm at SeaWorld. We had an amazing day. Go and the sun will follow. Check out the pictures below if you need proof. Thanks Sheri.