So this morning I woke up before the sun. This doesn’t happen often. As always, I brewed some coffee and came out to my back porch to enjoy the cool morning, listen to the birds, watch the squirrels, and check Facebook and the news to see what I missed overnight.

I don’t have to tell you what I saw. You saw it too. And you have your opinions.

The general perspective now reminds me of all the music festivals I’ve been to. You pay the big bucks and fight for the best seats to see who’s on the main stage. The headliner.

But if you are smart, you head over to the side stages to catch the smaller bands. These are the hard-working up-and-comers. Maybe they’ll make the big time some day, maybe they won’t. If you pay attention, you come away with a whole new list of bands and music you never heard before.

Today someone is celebrating an anniversary. Someone is driving miles to help a friend. Someone is preparing to take a road trip to celebrate a birthday. Someone is preparing to bury her mother. Someone is mourning the tragic loss of a friend one year later.

These are a few of my someones. But you all have someones too. Take a moment to step away from the headlining band, however important, and listen to the other music.

As the sun began to rise in the east, I grabbed my phone to snap a picture, and then I turned to face west and snapped this instead.