Eye of the beholder

The morning sun slipped a beam under the curtain and woke them both gently. They had planned today for weeks, and judging by the birdsong on the air and the sun under the curtain, they had chosen the perfect day. He leaned over and gave her a good morning kiss, stretched, and sat up. She quizzically asked him if it was time to get up, before yawning loudly and setting off dwnstairs to make them both some coffee to wake them up and make them alert for the day ahead.
He stifled a yawn as he made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth, the last thing he wanted is for his food to be tainted by his morning breath. Besides, he planned to be free and indulgent with his kisses today.
They had been organised and packed the food that they wanted the night before they had set off. They didn't want anything too heavy on their stomachs, and nothing that would make them want to snooze. They decided sandwiches were the best option, and they were easy to make. Cheese was the number one option of course: and it had to be grated cheddar. They then decided that they would make some ham sandwiches as they were easy to make and went well with cheese.
They then added some extra things to their list: things such as pork pies, sausage rolls, crackers with some dip, etc. Then it was their favourite part, dessert. They added a muffin each, a large cookie to share and some flapjack for them to pick at. There was only two of them and they didn't want to have to roll back to the car, so they left it at that.
They left the house and locked the door behind them, they were almost ready to pursue the promise of adventure. He lifted the boot and made sure that they had everything they needed. He performed a mental checklist to make sure: the food was the first thing he placed in the boot, and the most obvious thing they needed. He made sure they had a blanket to relax comfortably on. They did not want to share their food with numerous tiny wildlife. The blanket was checkered and was made of wool, so it would be comfortable to lay on. Next thing was to make sure they had plenty of drinks: he had been to the supermarket the day before and had bought a large pack of bottled water. He packed a first aid kit, just in case anything happened that required a plaster. That reminded him, he ran back in the house for the pack of wet wipes, he needed that in case anything was spilt, or anything needed cleaning.
He made sure everything else was packed: hand sanitizer, utensils, ice blocks in the cooler bag, plenty of sunscreen so they didn't sizzle in the blazing sun, insect repellant, etc.
They were ready to set off. All they needed to decide was the important decision of what music to listen to on the road to nowhere. They had not decided on a destination, they just decided to follow random cars for an hour and see where they ended up. They settled on a playlist they had created together, he put his foot on the accelerator and they were off.
They had travelled about ten minutes when they decided to follow a different car. They repeated this a few times until eventually they happened upon a perfect field for a picnic. The field had a large tree in the middle, its lazy yet strong branches offered an escape from the heat and afforded shade.
It had a stream that was trickling down the nearby hill: and it seemed perfect to stop the car and enjoy a few hours of laughter and food.
The sun was beating down on the field, the heat wrapping itself relentlessly around his body, it felt wonderful. The sky was the deepest blue, he felt both comforted by the depth but humbled as it seemed to go on forever. One or two clouds hung lazily onto the horizon and were only there to add beauty to the scene.
They walked around the back of the car and unloaded the picnic. He felt slightly like buckaroo as he made his way down to the field, but he had insisted that he carry everything down to the area they would relax.
They lay on the blanket and he took a moment to appreciate his surroundings and he was stunned by the majesty of the surroundings.
The tree that they were under was incredible. He briefly wondered what that tree had seen through its lifespan. He thought that it had seen every type of weather that there was a word for. He reckoned it had seen every type of rain: they type that soaks you through because it is big fat rain. That type of rain was usually accompanied by freezing cold air, the combination of cold air and heavy rain sent a welcome shiver down his spine.
He thought it must have seen strong wind: wind that tries really hard to tear up roots and makes a mockery of smaller trees and laughs at their attempt to stay in the same position throughout the storm.
It must have seen glorious sunshine, picturesque snowfall, and everything in-between. It must have seen couples together, people proposing, and it was have seen heated arguments, and every emotion that can be named. Today though, it was witnessing perfection: it's leaves of deep green that contrasted beautifully with the blue of the sky, leaves that were dancing in the gentle breeze.
The breeze hung lazily on the air, and was gentle enough to tickle the faces of the happy couple that were sat on the picnic blanket. It made the leaves on the trees happily dance and be excited in the tree, and it felt heartachingly silky as it afforded perfect companionship to the nonstop heat of the sun.
It tickled the grass, soundlessly tickling each blade as it happily meandered through.
The sunshine was more hot than warm, and seemed to caress everything it touched with its warm hands. The heat it afforded was relentless, and yet incredibly comforting; it was as calming as a hot chocolate and a laugh on a chilly Autumn day.
The stream nearby was so calm, it playfully trickled over the rocks and gave its gentle music to the ears of anyone passing by. The water was perfectly clear and cool when he out his feet in it. He needed to do something to cool down on this hot summer day.
The birds were enjoying the day. Their songs filled the air, their notes drifted gently on the breeze. They relaxed on the branches, and only flew for the sheer joy of flying. They had no destination, the sky was an open playgroud for them to enjoy. Their music sounded like orchestra and passion at the same time; a relaxing fire that tickled the ear of anyone that was blessed enough to listen to them. They were so playful that their nature was contagious, and he found himself smiling because they were singing.
The hills were a lush green, a rolling landscape that invited adventure and curiosity, and the relaxation of just wanting to lay on it and indulge in the atmosphere provided. What they really did is provide the stunning backdrop with alternative places to view and to view from. They gave hikers paths to follow when they were adventuring: They offered a breathtaking view of the scenery from the top of them: and of course they offered a stunning part of the scenery themselves.
He closed his eyes for a moment, taking in the beauty of his surroundings and felt enveloped by the heat of the sun, he let the feeling of pure contentment and wonderful relaxation wash over him; he felt as though he was in control of every fibre of his being and felt the wonderful peace deep inside himself. He opened his eyes and locked his eyes with her. Nothing that nature had to offer was as beautiful as what he was looking at now. He was instantly home, time stood still and meant nothing as he allowed himself to be utterly lost and vulnerable in her eyes. Every moment they had shared poured into his mind in an instant, every memory shared occurred to him in the time between her heartbeats.
She had eyes of stunning brown, with a depth that could only be matched by the depth of the ocean. He felt like he could see down into the depths of her soul and all his emotion exploded at once. He felt like a million fireworks had ignited in his heart; yet he felt a calmness wash over him, like the calm felt on a day Iike today. The contrast of emotions should have made him feel uneasy, but instead he felt a depth of love that he did not feel was possible.
He noticed that in the brown there were tiny flecks of gold which highlighted the contrast between excitement and calm within her. In that moment he knew that she was capable of fire and water, and wanted to see it all.
He felt so lucky to wake up to her every day. Her face was the first thing he saw every day; and to him, that was the perfect way to start each morning. He had never felt so refreshed and relaxed as he did when he woke up and saw her. He felt like he had won the lottery, cashed in the ticket and felt his wildest dreams come true, whenever she was next to him.
One of his favourite memories of them together wandered into his mind. It was sharing a moment in the kitchen cooking a meal. She had wanted to get started preparing the meal before he was ready to come downstairs. They had been home all day and by themselves so she just wore his t-shirt, this was overly large on her and showed how comfortable she was with him. She put some music on and her singing drifted upstairs and put a smile on his face. She was not the best singer in the world, but every note she sang made him feel like a child on Christmas morning.
He walked downstairs and into the kitchen and a rush of affection at the sight that was in front of him made him smile. She looked up and smiled warmly as he walked through the door, and playfully danced to him, he could not wait for her to get to him so he could hold her and caress her. He held her as she jumped into his arms, and carried her back to the food she had already chopped. They were only making a spaghetti bolognese, but the fun was in the making it. He poured them both a glass of wine into two glasses she had already fetched from the cupboard. They clinked their glasses and took a sip; red wine always made him think of christmas, and vaguely wondered why. It might be that he always had a glass when putting up the tree. He did not remember what was in the Bolognese, other than a liberal amount of red wine from the same bottle they had poured a glass from, but he remembered the feeling of absolute contentment as they danced together and sang to the music, the food was an afterthought to the time they were enjoying together.
Another of his favourite memories was one of absolute simplicity, and would have meant nothing to anyone other than him as he felt the serenity wash over him. They had got into the car to go shopping. He put music on and they both sang all the way to the shop. They hadn't even decided upon a genre to put on, they both just enjoyed the music he put on . They had got to the shop and she had climbed out to go get the trolley whilst he parked the car. He then got out the car and they went into the shop together.
He could not put his finger on why he enjoyed that moment so much, but every time he thought of it he felt a warmth and comfort in his soul. The stunning scenery around was made infinitely better by her being in the scene. He was happy.