Thankful

At times like this, I wish I had Brian's gift for poetry, or my sister Tamarie's gift for capturing a moment in careful words which make you feel like you were there.

I don't have that gift. So I may not be able to effectively express what I want to say. But I'm going to try anyway.

This morning a friend and I had arranged to do a babysitting swap so that we could both have a chance to go to the gym and work out. At the last minute her baby got sick so she had to cancel.

I was already in my workout clothes, and feeling ambitious, so I decided to put Weston and Julia in the jogging stroller and make an attempt, no matter how feeble, to go for a jog.

I am so glad I didn't waste the morning in a sweaty, stinky gym. Because in a gym, I wouldn't have experienced any of this:

- Showers of leaves fluttering to the ground as the wind blew through the trees
- The sound of my feet and the stroller crunching through the leaves
- Gorgeous, colorful trees, in all stages of change...some still green, some tipped with red, some fully orange and gold, and some whose leaves are almost entirely gone
- Turning my head toward a tree just in time to see a perfectly formed bird's nest in the low branches
- The feeling of cold, crisp air coming into my nostrils and filling my lungs with fresh energy and life
- The smell of decaying leaves and woodsmoke
- The sight of my kids - Weston perked up straight, looking around and telling me about everything he sees, and Julia in her fuzzy pink coat and hood, red cheeked, relaxed, and sitting perfectly still...a certain indication that she is happy.

At one point, I felt almost choked with emotion, happy emotion. I love fall more than any other season. During our 5 years in California, I always recognized the onset of fall just by the change in the slant of the sunlight...and always felt a little longing for the real thing. Now I'm in heaven.

I came back from my run on a high...full of energy, and renewed, and with the sense that I experience the world too often from the windows of my house or my car.

I think I need to make this morning run a more frequent experience.