Worth the Jell-O Legs

As soon as the bus pulled away, I hopped on my bike and set out for a morning bike ride. There is a bike path that runs in front of our house. I've gone one way on it already, so I decided to go the other way today to see where it would lead.

Oh my goodness. Amazing.

Amazing.

That's all I can think of to describe my morning.

Yes, the ride ended up being much longer than I had expected... because I ended up in some random neighborhood in some part of town I have yet to visit (until this morning) and I had to stop and ask random lady #1 (who was perfectly busy walking her child to school) where I was and how to get out. Yes, I encountered hills too big to make it up on my bike - oh the hills! *oy* Yes, my legs are complete jell-o now from even beginning to attempt to make it up said hills.

But you should have seen what I saw today. The birds. Every color. Every size. Amazing. The flowers. The stream. The really cool bridge over the stream. More birds. The sounds. Oh my word, nature is breath-taking - even right in the middle of a well-developed town.

See, the bike path ended up running through what must be protected nature reserves. There were neighborhoods edging along on every side, but the big chunk of land in the middle was entirely untouched (except for the path and the bridge that had been laid to make the area accessible). At one point I stopped, and just stood and looked up - at the trees towering over me and the birds eating their bugs for breakfast. I looked down at the water rushing by below me and at the thick covering on the ground, and I imagined what it would look like to see the entire area covered like this - you know, if it had never been undone by people. I saw two cardinals - always my favorites to see... I always imagine they're like special little love notes from God because he knows how much I love them. I saw a few bright yellow birds and even an indescribably blue bird - electric blue - beautiful!

I thought of just stopping and sitting and staying for a while, but I wasn't entirely sure I would get back up if I sat. I do plan to WALK there sometime soon though, with my camera,and take plenty of time to just sit. That sounds lovely.

For today, though, the ride and the view were all more than worth the jell-o legs I now have. So worth it.

(and a side note... I accidentally found the kids new school for next year. I guess now I know where that is.)

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