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Friday, August 27, 2010

this moment: walking to the bus stop


[Because sometimes I need to use words to remember a particular moment]



Breaths of cool morning air fill my nostrils with the scent of summer's end. It smells bittersweet--green leaves and cut grass mix with the exhaust from yellow school buses, scrubbed clean like the kids on it, ready for the first days of a new school year. 

Acorns lay scattered on the sidewalk, still green. Gray squirrels shake a new shower of them down every few minutes. I dodge the storm and quicken my pace.

The light and shadows keep my attention. My eyes follow the changes in the dappled gray and gold; leafy shadows cross my path with the breeze. The iron fence casts a railroad track onto the concrete in front of me. I walk the tracks, a morning adventure that reminds me of the childhood magic of placing a coin on a hot rail, then returning hours later to find a flat oval slick of metal, an old President's head just barely discernable. I think of high school days spent with my nose buried in books about tramping across the country, my mind filled with dreams of traveling light, train-hopping, and living simply. 


The tracks end abruptly in the shade of a tall beech tree. The contrasting layers of its bark, swirls and rounds of gray, white, and green, look like a topographic map. The world on a tree. It feels rough beneath my trolling fingers. I keep moving.

At the corner I stop. I like the certainty of the bus stop. Stand here, sooner or later, something will happen. I wait, taking in the stillness after my brisk walk. The bus with its fumes, its crowded passengers, and its old driver will soon arrive, and though I am anxious to start the day, this pause at the bus stop feels right. It's funny, but even though I know the passing traffic is filling the intersection with honks and humming, what I hear is quiet. 


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Find more moments on SouleMama's blog.


11 comments:

  1. Why that's just lovely! I felt like I was there with you, ready to start the day. I hope it's a good one.

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  2. what a gorgeous photo, and thank you for sharing your moment .... such changes are happening, sometimes so very quickly.

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  3. Oh, I loved your words, Allison. I'm glad you included them. That last sentence will stay with me - such a beautiful image, in a way....

    Really enjoyed this post, dear. I hope you and yours are well.

    xoox,
    -maria

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  4. What a beautifully eloquent post! Wonderful photos as well.
    This morning, for the first time in months, the weather is actually cool enough here for me to open up the house to let a cleansing breeze drift through. I think I'll take a bike ride. Come on fall!
    Blessings,
    G

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  5. Your writing is beautiful. And I think they added so much to the photos (which is a rare gift!).
    I also love the photos! I'm a fan of the ways shadows and lights play together - and so I really enjoy the top one.
    Thank you for the inspiration!

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  6. That was lovely. Sometimes a words need to be written with picture. This was nice.

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  7. What pretty patterns! The quiet before the storm is most special, I agree.

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  8. Lovely picture and your words are so beautiful.

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  9. I like that you included words. I'm with you...sometimes you need them to make a memory complete.

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