The Delight of a Path Less Traveled

Sometimes it's good to take a different path. Dave and I enjoy walks together and go on 4 or 6 mile walks several times a week. Yesterday we took a different path and climbed up on the railroad tracks and walked along the ridge for a while. We could see off in all directions. It was a beautiful fall evening, just at dusk. A magical time of day when the sky is a constant show of colors dissolving into one another with the luminance of the city lights interlaced in the natural beauty. A rabbit ran along ahead of us for a while. And then, by chance, we discovered it! A crossing from my neighborhood across a field to another neighborhood. This may not sound like a big deal, but we also love our bike rides; we just hate to ride along the busy street getting to the trails at the nature preserve. This trail is the connector we'd been hoping to discover so we could avoid that street. The Saturday before when we'd rode, I thought 'mountain bike' meant I should be able to ride along the part of the road where the sidewalk was missing. I did fine until I hit a big rock. My front wheel stopped, my back wheel flipped up, and I entertained Dave and drivers passing by as I flailed about getting control of the bike again. Fortunately, I did not land in the street, but I've had a really big bruise.

I find being out in nature so inspiring. To just soak in God's beauty and attention to detail in all He created. It's interesting that He gives us seasons, each with it's own inspiration of invigoration. It seems just as we begin to grow weary of one season, He sends us a new one that breathes life back into us.