A Tale of India: Day Four in Agra (5/27/14), Part One

We awoke before the crack of dawn to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise. All things in India are more beautiful in the mornings, from the sounds of birds and crickets and chickens and dogs and cows to the pleasant climate to the awakening of small businesses to the calm before the storm of rush hour traffic. And so it is with the Taj Mahal, already so beautiful but infinitely moreso in the morning.

Last night we saw the sun set behind the Taj; today we wanted to see the sun rise…

I lay here – my back infinitely thankful – horizontal on the cool marble floor of the Taj Mahal, looking at it from my perspective, or from any in fact, of its absolutely majestic and magnificent splendor. I’ve known of it my entire life, having heard of it from my folks and having seen it from pictures in…