THE BEAUTY OF A MOMENT

I just sat outside for ten minutes.
There's a row of houses behind our back garden, and exactly behind ours, there's an empty property with nothing but grass and a stack of firewood on it. Behind that, there's fields, an old oak tree and the forest in the distance.
The sun sets exactly there.
My brother and I ordered pizza tonight and I ate in front of the TV rewatching an old episode of Doctor Who. While I brought my dirty dishes into the kitchen, I noticed the sunshine outside. I tidied up the living room and decided to go outside.
The sun stood pretty low already, just so reaching the patio. It had been cloudy all day so the sunlight looked incredibly bright and golden on the lawn and the flowers. The wind was rustling the leaves and the countless birds living in our garden were singing their evening songs. It was comfortably warm with a hint of chill.
I sat on the sunbed and closed my eyes. There was autumn in the air, easy to feel. The way the light hit the leaves made them look golden.
When I look outside my window now, I can see the tree moving in the wind, the leaves still coloured by the setting sun. It's not late enough for the sky to be pink yet but it's definitely changing colour.
Those ten minutes I sat out there in the garden were perfect. It was one of those moments you can't describe. I wanted to photograph it but how could you capture the sound of the wind and the late summer air kissing your skin on a photograph?
While sitting outside I thought about how moments can be perfect and then the telephone rings or you remember you didn't turn off the TV yet and reality comes rushing back in. It's sort of depressing but perfect moments are too, well, perfect to ignore them. In a perfect moment, you feel at ease. Comfortable. Safe.
I've experienced a few of those moments before.
Sitting under a sunshade by the pool in a hotel on Gran Canaria with my family reading The Lord of the Rings.
On top of a ferris wheel with my two best friends in the whole world taking pictures.
Those are the moments that make you want to be the best person you can possibly be, do the best you possibly can, make the most out of your life. Those are the moments that feel slightly unreal but at the same time you feel so incredibly alive.
Those are the moments that make you recognise how beautiful life can be.