Making our getaway!

When my wife and I saw our chance this week, we took it. We gave our best impression of Bonnie and Clyde being chased by the cops and made a run for it — me in the driver’s seat, speeding down a hilly, country road, her, my cool, calm, and collected right hand, giving me directions and telling me to speed it up on the straight-aways.

As soon as I had put a few work tasks to bed early this week, we raced out the door, heading to a nearby woods and park, to take in the setting sun.

Let me explain. Mother Nature has been playing tricks on us lately, and not the Halloween kind where there’s a nice treat at the next house. No, it has rained every weekend in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic for the past two months. During this stretch, the weekdays have been generally fine, and the weekends have been at best, cloudy and overcast, at worst, a sloppy mess.

When the weather finally took a turn for the better, we decided we had reached our limit and when we saw our chance to escape it, even for a short while, we took it.

Mother Nature didn’t have to ask us twice, we were out the door.

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” —John Muir

After getting a slow start, trees according to Pennsylvania parks officials, are nearing their peak foliage colors across much of the state. There’s something about putting your phone away, except to take photos, and walking in the woods.

Once we reached our destination, we slowed down and took a walk. The leaves seemed to be a mixed bag. Some still had a good bit of green, some looked primed to take center stage in all their glory, and still others looked like they were on the downside.

The color didn’t really matter. It was just what the doctor ordered.

“Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat.” —Laura Ingalls Wilder

I fight getting out in the outdoors sometimes. I blame work or other obligations. I say I don’t have time or that it won’t make much of a difference, but I find that every time I walk through the woods, I’m reminded of where I grew up, others who came before me, and still others who will come after me.

I’m reminded of God’s enormous power and my limited power.

I’m remind too that many times, I just need to get out and spend some time with my wife out in one Mother’s Nature’s great wonders.

“And all the lives we ever lived and all the lives to be are full of trees and changing leaves…” —Virginia Woolf

I didn’t come away with any amazing takeaways in this latest adventure. I didn’t magically get wiser or smarter. My work problems didn’t disappear.

I just felt calmer.

We weren’t at the park all that long, maybe 25 minutes or so, but I came away feeling like I had spent the day doing something just for myself. I felt relaxed.

People spend hundreds and thousands of dollars at spas and weekend resorts to get that feeling. I got it with a 25-minute walk through the woods.

“It was a beautiful, bright autumn day, with air like cider and a sky so blue you could drown in it.” —Diana Gabaldon

Fall means many things to many different people. In many ways, fall means the end of summer, the changing of the leaves, and represents a time of maturity. For me, though, fall means a rebirth. I come alive seeing the different colors. I come alive seeing the deer in the woods.

I come alive knowing that “for everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.”

“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald

Yes, Halloween is here and Thanksgiving will not be far behind. The first frost and the inevitable first dusting of snow will surely be coming as well. I have much to be grateful and I’m excited about all that fall will bring.

Yes, fall bring me your coat of many colors. I can’t wait to see it all. Oh, yes, thank you!

The weather prognosticators are actually calling for nice weather this weekend. I’m not really sure what to expect — it would be nice to make another Bonnie and Clyde getaway to the park — but I don’t care. I got a good dose of Vitamin D and Fall Foliage that will carry me over for a long, long time.

Thank you Mother Nature!

“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.” —Emily Brontë