It’s the end of an era. The Walk-to-School campaign, thriving for eight beautiful years, has ended for me. With girls in middle school and high school, it’s a new rush to meet the school bus and gather my things for early morning office hours for students on campus.
But I can’t help myself this morning: I walk down the sidewalk and notice the dappled sunlight, the acorns, and the red-hatted mushroom. I think of all those mornings of greeting neighbors and experiencing the seasons: the muggy cloak of late summer, the crisp chill of autumn, the bitter ice of winter, and the hopeful slosh of spring.
I stroll alone and take a few pictures. I might be older and in a different season of life, but I can still walk and observe.
I’m back to where I began; I’m isolating beauty. So much changes, but some things stay with you no matter how your life evolves. No matter where I am, there’s always something to marvel over, to notice and capture in my heart, and to enjoy in silence and solitude. I might not have a crowd of children around me walking up the hill to school, but I do have all this.
PS: The oven sun-dried tomatoes are DELICIOUS! It did take four hours, though.