A free ride.

Yesterday, being Labor Day and all, we went for a ride in the country.

Beautiful. Leaves putting on new duds of shimmering gold. Some have met their fate and fallen from their homes and will now become compost. They will all follow this ritual until the branches stand bare before the howling north wind. But while they still carry around their golden garments, they charm us into thinking all is well.

We outsmarted them. We knew they'd be changing their looks, so we figured we'd enjoy them while they were still pretty.

The fields showed off their long locks too. Swaying and blowing gently with the warm south wind, waiting for the swather to come along and lay them flat. They were ready. Their kernels were ripe for the cutting. We watched them perform their last hurrah!

We, husband and I and Aunt Connie, walked down the country road. Listening. Feeling. Hearing. Smelling. Seeing. The quietness was calming.....and deafening.

A marsh was just ahead. The coots flapped, and swam and scurried along the slough, hiding from us, the intruders, who would watch them in their private quarters. Frogs croaked. Bulrushes strutted their brown velvet coats. Green heads quacked and talked to the rest of their kin. I think they were telling their children of the trip they were all planning in the weeks ahead and how they had better eat their wheaties or they wouldn't make it.

We stopped at the ferry crossing waiting for the "ferry girl" to allow us to drive ahead. On we went....bump.....bump.......stop. I remember in the "olden days" when the current carried the ferry across the river and the only thing that could be heard was the rippling of the water and the cable ferrying us across. Not any more. Now it's "brrrrrruuuuummmmmm" and a big, noisy engine takes the ferry across and pretty fast too. I think I still enjoy the slow, quiet ferry of long, long ago.............

It was a memorable day. When the snow flies and the north wind takes over this part of the country, I will remember the ride in September when nature showed us her beauty, and all for free.

God does things like that. Gives us unexpected pleasures. Everything he offers us is free for the taking. Everything. No charge. A free ride.

But sometimes we don't even bother to get into the car.................