If I had to estimate, I’d say 60% of thoughts that occur to me are inspired by Internet memes.
One of my favorites is the “grocery store sky” meme:
(And a link if you want to peruse more grocery-store-sky TikToks.)
When I first saw this meme my reaction was, “LOL, SO TRUE” and now I can’t help but think about it every time I see a beautiful sunrise or sunset at a grocery store.
For example, this photo taken (and posted to my Strava1 that morning) at 6:02am from the Safeway near my apartment. In terms of scenic places in San Francisco it’s certainly safe to say that the local Safeway is probably … not in the top 10. And yet … !!!!
Anyway. Last month I was in Slovenia and – having just left Italy – I was suffering from gelato withdrawal. I simply could not end my day without an ice cream. So after dinner I walked to the Lidl in search of a pint of something that was sure to be far inferior to an Italian gelato but would hopefully get the job done. Lo and behold:
Do yourself a favor and don’t Google “grocery store sunset sky” because you’ll end up on a Reddit thread where people roll their eyes and call you dumb because, DUH, this “phenomenon” can easily be explained away.
I, however, prefer to believe there is a certain magic that exists at a grocery store.
At the very least, there is something to be said for the feeling of being a part of something bigger than yourself when you see other people standing outside their cars in the parking lot, their phones pointed to the sky, too. It’s the same feeling you get at a concert; everyone moved by the same music, a shared appreciation of beauty.
I even like the way that phrase – “grocery store skies” – rolls off my tongue.
And how many times have I watched sunrises and sunsets from a Safeway while on a road trip? Grocery store sunsets remind me of hot summer nights and cold winter mornings, cars covered in the dirty remnants of slush and snow and full of half-eaten bags of chips and maybe some leftover beers, and of tired eyes but full hearts, and of the promise of going somewhere, and of brief moments of beauty in unexpected places.
- My Strava includes even more unfiltered, rambling content than this blog which is probably hard to believe given I’m writing here about getting ice cream at a Lidl. ↩︎
Share your thoughts!