America Home Logs 2020.. Sunrise at Lake Michigan

The year 2020 was bizarre; who would have expected a minuscule virus unseen to the naked eye to completely dominate our lives.

My travel, which I took for granted year after year, had come to a standstill. What kept us sane was our yoga and zoom calls with family. It was the month of November, and my mind wandered to travel. It has been a year since I saw my children. By now, I had summoned the courage for 13 hours of air travel to visit the USA. The constant reassurance by Emirates airlines on Instagram helped, along with the newly installed HEPA filters on the planes.

We reached Chicago, to be greeted by SanchitRam. A quick ride by Uber brought us to his compact and comfortable house. A warm meal awaited us. A sense of pride crept into me that my young son managed his home well. This year luckily, Arvind joined me for a holiday. 

After a detailed look around the house, we had thoughts on rearranging the furniture to make the house look more spacious. We continued our home isolation for a couple of more days. Ensuring we were covid free after the travel, Sanchitram mentioned that the sunrise at Lake Michigan was worth a morning drive. 

Bracing against the chilly winter morning, we Ubered to Fullerton Beach to catch the sunrise.  It had the best vantage point to view the majestic Chicago skyline and watch the sunrise. The ride to the beach was exhilarating. Sensing our urgency, the Uber driver drove by the scenic route along the lake. We were mesmerized by the moving clouds capturing the first orange hues of sunrise. We rolled down the windows to let the coolness of the morning air in. The sky had begun to brighten. 

Clouds moved in the morning sky in wisps, leaving a hint of blue. They drifted lazily in the breeze with perhaps a destination in mind.  The morning light rose over Lake Michigan, filling the sky with orange, red, and yellow hues. The top of the sun peeked over the horizon of the lake, splashing the clouds with rays of sunshine. Chicago's tall, impressive world-class architecture stood in glory as the sun rose up from the lake, reflecting the colors despite being dwarfed by the lake's magnificence.

Watching the sunrise over the waters of Michigan lake warms my heart at the divine gift bestowed by nature. We practiced a few stretches and performed a few Surya namaskars welcoming another beautiful day. 

As we marveled at this delightful sunrise, we spotted a family of ducks navigating the water and looking for their food. Walking across the park, we saw a community of dog lovers coming out for their morning walks.  

That was an excellent start to our month-long holiday in the USA. Thank you, SanchitRam, for the beautiful morning experience.