Posts in Travel

As I watch through the rectangle that is my beloved bedroom window, I see the days of warmth coming to their annual end. While the peak of the day still teases with inviting warm coziness, the nights start to show the true colors of the forthcoming season by hinting at the subtle chills in the air. One last trip downtown before the days of warmth are lost over the course of the next few months. The stand on the corner that is normally full of fruits and vegetables is still there, however, the selection has dwindled so. Before cherries, blackberries, raspberries, avocados, lemons, and apples were all stacked high, but now only a few baskets remain. While some worry about the days of warmth being lost for the year, I can’t help but kick back and enjoy the last few of them before fall turns into winter. Only by experiencing the days of cold can one truly appreciate the days of warmth.

As the leaves fall to the ground, the ambient temperature begins to follow suit. Autumn makes itself known as another year approaches its chilly end. With winter around the corner, the seasons have given way to one of my favorite times of the year, the Autumn Solstice. The faded pastel color pallets of summer make way for the vibrant shades that accompany fall. T-shirts and sandals turn into sneakers and hoodies and we trade in our iced coffees for hot ones. The air breathes differently as there is a crispness to it that only this time of year knows. Hence, my ode to Autumn Evenings. In closing, I leave you with a quote from the great William Shakespeare, “When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang. Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang…”

Being reincarnated into an animal is something I believe to be possible. Perhaps unlikely, improbable, but definitely possible. Have you ever thought about what you’d reincarnate into if faced with the question? Or if you don’t believe in reincarnation, have you ever wondered what it’d be like to be an animal, even for a day? I know you have, and in that case, which would you want to be? After some thought, I wish that I could be the prestigious bald eagle. I’d sore high above the clouds, elevating my spirit to planes it’s never witnessed before. As an eagle, I can be wild and free. Nothing shall contain me. I can almost imagine the feeling of having a powerful beak, sharp talons, and eyes that can rival a pair of binoculars. To be the solitary bird of prey; not for a day, but an afterlife.

The night sky starts as a pale grey before transitioning to dark blue. The lake is well below the docks as opaque sheets of ice slowly lurk across the surface of the water. I can see my breath in the air, but it doesn’t feel cold outside. The temperatures are rising, and the ice and snow at the base of the mountain are starting to melt. It starts to lightly rain. The light of the moon makes the precipitation in the air look like fog. Within a day, the lake will grow nearly one-third of its current size as the ice and snow will soon change into water. I can walk under the docks now, but tomorrow night will tell a different story. A lake fed by melted snow is a beautiful sight to behold.

While I’m out on my ventures, there’s a lot of time spent traveling. And while I don’t have a lot of free time on my hands, I oftentimes find myself using the little bit that I do accrue to drum up and get lost in strange theories. For instance, are dogs just reincarnated people? Perhaps cats? Or any other animal for that matter? In the case of dogs, anyone that has shared a living space with one for some time will most likely attest to the fact that they occasionally exhibit human-like tendencies now and again. Is this due to them watching and learning from us? Or is my Australian Labradoodle the living embodiment of a 9th-century Scandinavian farmer?