Summer’s bounty is fading now. Blackberries that escaped bears and humankind hang shriveled on their brambles… Geese fly overhead morning and evening, restless…Pears and their peelings fill the compost, enticing bears…the hazelnuts are beginning to fall on the street just around the corner… The air is cooler and wetter and the skies are grayer. The sun sets earlier now. It’s inescapable–fall is on the way.
I generally have a hard time letting go of summer–the blue skies, sunny days, picnics, gardening… But the time has come. So I put on my comfy old sweatshirt and tried-and-true– though ugly– windbreaker and headed out for a walk. But you know, it wasn’t so bad. The moist cool air was actually invigorating to breathe deeply. And it triggered eagerness for a fresh season. So yes, I am reconciled to summer’s passing, at last.
Have to tell you what I saw on my walk this afternoon–two miles of nothing more eventful than a rustling in the roadside growth, to which I told Louie to “Speak!” and hastened on my way talking loudly to myself! Reciting my Bible memory work out loud suddenly seemed very sensible.
But then I got to the homestretch–back in our own neighborhood. I chanced to look up at an apple tree beside the street and got a ‘start’. What?! Big furry paws hung down through the branches.
There was something strange about them though, they looked limp, like maybe someone had shot the bear and left it there? Strange. I had to have a closer look.
Chuckle. How funny. I’ve heard of decoy ducks but bears! And what do you suppose was in the tree next to this one?
His twin, clambering up to get one last apple…
( : So my uneventful walk was saved from tedium by a good chuckle. Just never know what you’ll encounter in a day’s walk.
Hope your day will have some comic relief tossed in when you need it most. Blessings!
–Linda