Day 32. Ducks and Rainbow Trout

"Certainly it was a lovely autumn morning;

the leaves were fluttering red to the ground."

~ Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

My joy is brimming this morning! Yesterday's outing to the countryside was a feast for the senses... autumn is falling off trees everywhere and fields are ripe unto harvest.

I met my friend at a lake resort. Resorts in the summer time are usually buzzing with activity and people and noise. But yesterday there was a languid peace hanging over the town and lakefront. Mommas with babies strolling on gravel pathways, young lovers setting up a picnic in the sun, ducks puddling in the water. The lake was calm and still, and it wasn't long before our own thoughts and minds mirrored that same stillness. Our conversation over the afternoon drifted easily as we caught up on two year's worth of living.

If you will recall, I've shared before about the value of taking time to restock our inner wells, filling the pond, as it were, with fresh 'fish'. Even as my joy is overflowing today, I've also noticed my inner pond is teeming with new zest and creativity. When I got home last night, I could barely put down my pen; thoughts flowed as effortlessly as those ducks in the water and new ideas were jumping out all over like rainbow trout.

No doubt we would agree that holidays and rests are good for us. It's not that we don't like or enjoy them, but sometimes it's so easy to put them off, thinking we'll do it when it's more convenient, and       when we get all the urgent stuff out of the way.

The day I spent with my friend Betty, hanging out by the lake and later at her home deep in the countryside, made me see again how necessary it is for our health and well-being, as well as our joy and creativity, to plan times away from our usual activities.

September offers so many beautiful and colourful opportunities, I hope you will have the courage to sneak away and enjoy a tiny respite during your week. I hope you'll find yourself pleasantly and creatively surprised!

Blissfully yours,

Brenda

xox