There was nothing unusual about today’s car journey. It is one I make most Tuesdays to srock up on certain groceries. Yet it felt special. The truly fresh air coming in the open window was a treat after the weeks of a warmth which saps what little energy I have. I felt more alive than I have for a long time. As I turned a corner, I felt a surge of pure delight as I saw the thick carpet of bronze and copper coloured leaves hiding the grey of the pavement. It hadn’t been there the last time I took that road. The carpet stretched all along my route to the retail park. I felt a very particular joy as I passed near my childhood home and remembered walking to school and kicking up the leaves as I went.
I live in a city but beauty is not confined to more rural settings. I returned by a different way which included passing through he largest of our many beautiful public parks. That sparked a memory of hearing a teacher who had taken her class of very young inner city children to such a place and telling how one of them had exclaimed: “Sister, it’s like walking on cornflakes.” Remembering that child who had never before experienced autumn leaves and later hearing my much older friend telling of how, when she was at school she had been asked to take in a leaf, but didn’t know where she could find one in the urban setting around her home, I gave thanks, as I so often do, for having grown up surrounded by parks, woods, trees and green spaces. I give thanks, too for the beautiful places in which I have lived since.
mariaevans1 