an autumn memory

Yesterday was the day when we turn back the clocks an hour to adjust for
Daylight Savings Time. I suppose I could have used that extra hour in the
morning to sleep in a little bit later....but - I'm sure you can guess what I
opted to do instead...go unicycling!

I tossed my uni in the car a half hour before sunrise and drove out to the
Cleveland Metroparks Chagrin Valley Reservation. There is a paved all-purpose
trail there that winds in and out of the forest, along the parkway, and past the
picnic areas for about 8 miles.

It was a beautiful morning. The autumn leaves, just past their peak...a light
warm breeze carrying the scents of Indian Summer...a blanket of leaves obscuring
the pathway and crackling beneath my wheel....a doe, grazing, 10 ft. off to the
side as I rode by....squirrels gathering nuts...

At one point I raised my head and looked toward the sky, as I am apt to do when
very happy. A single golden leaf was falling from high above - as if dropped by
God. As it came see-sawing down towards the ground I raised my arm with my palm
turned upward and the leaf gently landed in my hand.

That made my day.

-Rick