My Morning Walk

The morning called, and I left the house about 9 am into a cooler and less humid day.  The sun was shining through a thin layer of wavy clouds.  I stood where the brightest light was blocked by a tree and watched the play of light and shadow, and the movement of the clouds.   I turned to walk down the street and saw a hawk soaring overhead - I hadn't seen one for a while.  Then a slowly falling leaf caught my attention, and I watched as it floated down and was caught by the leaves of a smaller tree.  The journey on to earth will have to wait a while.  The breeze fluttered the poplar leaves high up, then danced the flowering shrubs before washing cool against my face.  On down into the park I walked, with calling crows overhead, squirrels rustling on the forest floor, then a shower of falling leaves, and then a single falling leaf.

I walked up a different access trail and out of the park to the neighborhood up on the hill.  A hawk - perhaps the same one I'd seen earlier - flew close by and then higher into a tree - sounding its shrill call.  Over the next few minutes it flew from one perch to another, calling.  Then I heard another hawk over to the east, returning the call.

I wandered around through the neighborhood and back down by the creek.  I paused to watch the water striders atop the calm pool and their shadows on the bottom, some small fish that occasionally rose to the surface and sent out rings of ripples, and the reflection of green leaves on the water.

Walking on through the smell of cut grass, the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the breeze were a delightful combination.  The world is rich.