Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Autumn/Fall (08/27/09)
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TITLE: The Dance of the Autumn Leaves | Previous Challenge Entry
By Pamela Hill
09/02/09 -
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From my house, to get to the only grocery store in town, it’s a 2 mile drive down a winding road that runs along the river. Our community is a sanctuary for the deer in the area, this requires a slow speed limit making it a nice leisurely ride into town and back again. No one enjoys the trip more than my dog Lucy. With her head out the passenger window, nose into the wind, she sniffs the air and keeps her eyes peeled as though we’re on a quest to find something extremely valuable, and the full responsibility rests on her to be the first to spot this elusive prize.
The nights have been growing colder, persuading the leaves to adorn their coats of many colors. The days are still warm, but refreshingly cooler than the long hot days of summer. Change is coming, you can feel it in the air. We haven’t had any winds yet this fall, so the trees are fully loaded and bursting with color. It’s a clear, peacefully still afternoon. A beautiful autumn day in God’s country.
Only needing a few items I wasn’t in the store long, so you can imagine my surprise, as I reach the door, to see Gloria, one of the checkers, leaning hard into the wind as she wrangles a runaway shopping cart through the parking lot and back to it’s hitchin’ post. Laughing as we pass in the doorway, we ask each other; “where’d this come from?”
Walking to my car I’m amused at the random gusts of wind that seem to be asking the question; “wanna play?” to anyone that might be willing. Wind always seems to ask that question of me. Ever since I was a girl and played “horsie.” Whenever the wind blew I would gallop around the neighborhood pretending I was a horse feeling frisky on a windy day. It was great fun, when I was young. The wind, to this day, taunts me to play, as though it can’t see that I’m a grown-up now.
As I turn off the highway, and head up my road, I’m treated to a glorious surprise. In that very moment a tree gives up her beautiful golden leaves to a mighty gust of wind that seems to pluck them off and randomly throw them into the air. After swirling in the wind and giggling (yes, I’m sure I hear them laughing and shouting joyfully to one another) they fall to the ground.
Moving along at a crawl I am mesmerized by the scene before me. I don’t want to miss a second of it. Everywhere there are leaves. In the air, on the ground, a shower of fall colors, cascading down all around me and crunching underneath as ever so slowly I continue on. I can no longer see the road, it’s covered in orange, yellow, red, purple, and brown.
This is a glorious display of beauty and I’m filled with awe and appreciation! I feel as though God and I are enjoying it together and I sadly realize that there will never be adequate words to fully describe what I’m seeing.
I look over at Lucy, expecting to see her nose front and forward, eyes peeled for something she’s sure will appear at any moment. But instead she is looking up at the leaves falling all around us with a look of wonder on her face. So maybe there are three of us that are enjoying this production, as God has the trees and the wind present a special performance of “The dance of the Autumn leaves.”
Incidentally, it didn’t get past me that the leaves have reached their full maturity and yet are still beautiful when frolicking in the wind. So next time, when the wind comes a callin’, don’t be surprised if you see me kick up my heels and take off at a
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