The Thistles Are Thin

I'm shivering a little as I begin typing this.  The sun is setting behind the mountains, and with it, the temperature is dropping.  Oh! but what a lovely evening it is outside!  I'd rather not leave my perch on the deck, even though the warmth of the house calls me.  I was just finishing a bit of reading, and I couldn't help but continue to sit, enjoy the view of the backyard, and think of a walk I took out back just the other day.

I read a lot of interesting articles online, many of them shared by friends on Facebook.  Earlier this week, I read this article on walking.  It inspired me to don a jacket and walk around in my backyard.  In a way, it was a bittersweet experience, reminiscent of a childhood spent racing along the tops of dirt mounds and packing a hard trail among the rock piles below. Those same trails are now over-grown and the hills that once seemed tall are dwarfed by my adult self.

I noticed other things, too, as I walked.  Everything is green.  As a result of the heavy rains we got in August and the light snows we've gotten this month, the vegetation is flourishing, despite the fact that winter is lurking right around the corner.  There is one lone rhubarb plant left, long suffering from neglect, where there once was many.  The raised flower beds have curled boards that are in want of replacing.  Then there's that tree, behind the shed, a tree that isn't suppose to be there, but is standing there tall nonetheless.  I think I counted about a dozen shrubs that have died, hiding behind the living ones.  Across the way, on the hill we used to try to sled down, another tree plays at being a bush.  Whether it lost its top or grew up misshapen where another had died, I don't know.  And the thistles!  Wait, where are the thistles?  Usually they grow  thick, and one has to be careful to avoid stepping on them.  Stickers we used to call them.

Our lives are so busy in this modern age.  TV or the internet or our cellphones are always vying for our attention.  How much we miss when we don't stop to enjoy all the little details around us!  Spending some time outside this week as been refreshing.  Putting aside all the distractions that lie inside and getting outside for a bit is a wonderful thing.