Memory Lane

Today I took a trip:


winding

down

the dusty lane –

lined with

towering

evergreens –



past

the little

lake cottage

once owned

by my great-great

grandma

(but that – in my earliest childhood memories – was occupied by her bachelor son, also my grandma's uncle)...

by the gate

and fence

that locks

in the yard

with the

steep

stairs (on which my mother took my tiny hand and first led me)

down to this lake's shore...

and over a few lots...

to the place that my grandma bought with her inheritance from that favorite uncle –

(the one with whom she and sister also stayed during their summer vacations with his mother/their grandma);

looking

up

the

hill

at

the

lake home my grandparents then built on their lot...

(It was the place in which – growing up – my sisters and I spent many summer vacation days.)




strolling into

my grandma's garden

to find flowers

with lavender blooms –

even now

as October ends –





returning to the lakeside

to pick out

a few souvenir stones

to take

(along with

a small bouquet)

back with me...



for an
afternoon
visit to
the nursing
home

where
Grandma
now
stays,

so that

together, we could share a trip down Memory Lane.


What a blessing Tuesday's flat tire on our new-to-us car turned out to be. Because I had to make the 90-minute drive past Grandma's place en route to the dealer to get the warranty-replacement tire, I was able to take today's trip!

Blessings in Disguise

Why was our usual railroad crossing closed for construction work today?

To drop off my son for cross-country practice, I had to go another way.

I caught my breath as the giant moon moved over the tracks to set shortly after sunrise.

To share this view, I parked the car, hopped out with camera-in-hand and walked a path I'd not journeyed before.



Along the way, I spied bushes of wild fruit ready to reap.




Juicy wild plums...












Shimmering strings of dark choke cherries...












And clusters of red, dew-covered berries.











Driving home, I followed the detour through lots cleared for a new housing development that I'd not yet visited. Here the rising sun shone through towering pines.








At the two highways' intersection, the glistening sun on the misty meadows drew me farther west – up a parallel highway to gain a different view of our home road and its hills...

... and lured me farther north to the lake shore where a big bur oak stands and fog fairies danced in the dawn.


With these images collected on my camera's memory stick, I understood why I woke with a sore toe. Had I not cut the nail too short yesterday, I would have walked my usual path today. But by skipping this morning's exercise, taking a detoured route to school and following the morning mist, I encountered incredible images. What previously seemed irritating inconveniences to my daily routine, I now recognized as blessings in disguise.