Ashley Paige Writes

"Quite simply put, my favorite view on this route is, dare I say, gorgeous."

With a statement like that, I was expecting a grandiose stretch of cornfields with the blue outlines of mountains in the distance rising above a full, bright green tree line bathing in the golden morning light, fog settling over lanky corn stalks.

We drove downhill on a winding, deserted road at 5:45 in the morning. "It's coming up," he said anxiously, knuckles gripping the steering wheel tighter. I almost couldn't wait to see the landscape ahead of us. But as we turned the corner at the bottom of the hill, he slowed down and said, "Right there. Isn't it beautiful?"

I tried to hide my disappointment at the underwhelming view. Yes, the sky was beautiful, blue with white streaks of clouds, then turning a blushing pink toward the horizon. The fields rolled in high, close to the road, blocking most of the mountains in the distance. It's not that it wasn't a beautiful view, it just wasn't gorgeous. To me.

"Eh," I managed. "It is pretty," I quickly followed. "But it wasn't what I was expecting . . . not as . . . 'take-your-breath-away' as I anticipated."

"I don't know," he sheepishly started. "I guess I've just always loved how the hills look in the distance, and how the corn looks like a sea, rolling and tossing."

I handed him my phone and told him to take a picture. "Like that?" he asked, showing me his first snap.

"Whatever reflects the best view of what you love about this spot."

He took two more and then handed my phone back. As we started on down the road, I was reminded of all I love about mornings and sunrises during the summer: the horizon begins to shake off the chill, fog rolls in and clings to the grass, hanging in the trees. Animals sleepily come out from hiding, the birds singing them into blissful consciousness. The sky gives you a coy expression before the sun beams out over the mountains.

I saw the appeal of his gorgeous landscape. I just couldn't understand the type of awe he got from something so ordinary. But what do I know? He somehow manages to see something gorgeous and awe-worthy in me.