― George Eliot
Once Upon an Autumn Night
I am
now working as a live-in nanny and after work tonight I contemplated going for
a drive--to gather my sanity. I wondered what the point would be as it was
almost dark and I wouldn't be able to see much...but I needed a bit of time to myself.
The
air had a definite snap to it so I had the heat on low at my feet---but the
windows all the way down. Fresh damp earth and fallen leaves mingled together in
the gathering darkness to create a pungent bouquet. I could smell the sweetness
of fallen fruit in the air—apples and perhaps the tang of forgotten berries
that the wildlife will feast on in weeks to come. There was a warm top note of
wood smoke that teased my nose as it wisped invitingly from the chimneys of country
homes lit up with soft yellow light.
I
drove through the back roads with Jimmy Rankin serenading me on my stereo and the
lights of my van catching the fading glory of autumns’ colors in low bushes as
I passed--bright reds, golds and fiery orange. As I turned corners and passed under the overhang of trees and out into wide open fields, I topped the rise of a small hill, and
the light of a crescent moon, slung low over the horizon, led the way and shone
through the dark branches of taller trees that have already dropped most of
their leaves.
I
bought a diet coke and went and parked by the water---where someone named Zelda
gives river adventures in pontoon boats. I turned off the van and took deep
breaths of the crisp air……I heard some movement from the water, a few birds trilling
in the night air and the faint sound of traffic.
After
a while I started my van to drive home and sang along softly with Jimmy and
cranked the heat so I could be warm as I got the full joy of my return drive and the smells
of autumn’s night. I felt renewed---I
had been hidden from the busyness of humanity—just for a few minutes—which was
just long enough to reclaim my peace and be fresh for the little ones tomorrow.
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