Metaphorically Speaking...

   I snapped this photo as I drove home, just as Florence & The Machine's "Shake It Out" ("It's always darkest before the dawn") started. I wasn't familiar with the song, but found it haunting—and inspiring—and turned up the volume.
   There was a dark, heavy storm cloud directly above me, practically pressing down on me with an incredible weight, and extending far in front of me, with just the tiniest sliver of daylight on the horizon. But I could see that the light was beautiful, and burned so brightly...
   A cloud of large, dark birds emerged from the trees next to the highway, swirled above me in a chaotic mass, then broke and flew together toward the brighter sky, just as the song hit its crescendo. It all felt like a perfect metaphor for my life at this moment... I need to keep focused on the road ahead and get my head out from under this cloud.
   True story. Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up. I just observe.