The trees were alive with bright firey red, orange, and yellow bursts of color. As my friends and I stepped onto our bikes, I said aloud, “Ooooh so pretty,” and then kept on saying it every three or four minutes. Around each bend, new views and more colors surprised us.
Even after a lifetime of living in Vermont, the fall foliage still amazes. It can’t really captured in photographs, though we all try. There really isn’t anything like being deep in the forest during peak leaf season, surrounded by vivid fall colors.
My friends and I zoom down the trail, even as the sun begins to set, the dust hanging in the air and sparkling in the sun’s golden rays. As the forest begins to darken, we turn on our lights and continue to twist and turn through the trees, over roots and rocks, across bridges, climbing and descending. The loss of daylight never bothered us.
Bike season is almost over and even though every fall I feel a little sense of loss - loss of the summer, loss of another season, a little bit older, another chapter over - I’m never really sad to see summer go and winter on its way. I’m always looking forward to winter.
changing of the leaves
bright popping red
candy color orange
vivid yellow
fireworks in slow motion
celebrating the summer’s end
and welcoming winter’s beginning
all at once very alive
at peak beauty
but eventually falling
breaking loose
and letting the wind carry you away
Every Tuesday my Two Writing Teachers colleagues and I host the Slice of Life Story Challenge. Teachers from all around the world participate in sharing a story each week.