Last night I put on my sunglasses for a bike ride and started down the trail. I rode east from Teff Road between the two sections of Lime Like into the woods and past fields east. Between Moscow and Reynolds a dark storm came in unexpectedly from the north east and soaked me with cold rain. I continued east into the woods but the rain was coming hard and the woods offered no protection. I turned back, then the thunder started. Now that will elevate your heart rate.
For years I have been enchanted by the undulating flight of the goldfinch along country roads. This week, for the first time, I experienced it in a different way and it was arresting.
First, the goldfinch is misnamed. It should be called the “brilliant yellow finch,” but that’s another point.
I’ve been riding my bike every day this summer. Kimmel Road is freshly paved and smooth as butter. I was rolling down Kimmel Road the other day and I saw a flash of yellow in my peripheral vision. For a few moments my speed was matched by the flight of a brilliant yellow bird rising and falling in flight along the ditch beside me. Seconds later it flew into the fencerow and out of sight. Just a splash of brilliant yellow above all the verdant green and it was gone.
I breathe a prayer. Lord, help me never to get callous to the little things along the way.
