mmmmm....Beautiful, just beautiful.....
I took the dog for a run before dusk and even though the sky was grey and dreary, the colours of Autumn provided a vibrant landscape to gaze upon.
God is so good to me. He knows I am captivated by colour, by texture, by scent, by movement....He generously shared His love with me as I walked along a trail I have walked a hundred times before yet, seeing things I had never seen before. Oh sure, they were the same trees and plants, but they had changed. The Queen Anne's Lace had lost its little petals and folded in on itself creating a type of branched cocoon. 
Beech trees were clothed in leaves of pale, translucent gold and burgundy and staghorn sumacs lined the trail, some branches had leaves all red and some all green, each tree crowned with a deep red fruit - it was like a reminder that Christmas is not far off either. Of course, the sugar maples are starting to turn. Some of them are a fantastic neon orange, so bright that you think the sun is shining on that particular tree, only to realize it is the vibrancy of the leaves. Oh...and the smells! Harvest smells, grasses fading, leaves drying, the marsh decomposing, and from somewhere the aroma of a wood stove or fireplace wafts by.
Beech trees were clothed in leaves of pale, translucent gold and burgundy and staghorn sumacs lined the trail, some branches had leaves all red and some all green, each tree crowned with a deep red fruit - it was like a reminder that Christmas is not far off either. Of course, the sugar maples are starting to turn. Some of them are a fantastic neon orange, so bright that you think the sun is shining on that particular tree, only to realize it is the vibrancy of the leaves. Oh...and the smells! Harvest smells, grasses fading, leaves drying, the marsh decomposing, and from somewhere the aroma of a wood stove or fireplace wafts by.After my run, on the way back, I am letting my eyes absorb all I can possible take in, breathing deep, when the Lord caught my attention with a song. Rather, hundreds of songs!
Where I am walking is about 40ft in the air. I am even with the top of most trees and I look over a huge marsh. 
From the center of the marsh is a group of trees long past days of green and in their stripped branches are hundreds of red winged black birds singing to the Lord and singing to each other. For about 25 minutes I stood and watched as they fluttered amongst the branches in groups or dive into the safety of the cattails en masse. Every 2 or 3 minutes I notice that a small group, anywhere from 7 to over 40 of these birds would flutter higher and higher on the branches of the trees until they could flutter no further and after a pause, this little flock would take off. Like jets at an airport, another group would flutter to its place at the top of the trees and, in the same direction and on the same path, take off together. This kept happening the entire time I watched and as I looked back thinking they must have all flown away, I would see another group flutter by. It was absolutely mesmerizing.
From the center of the marsh is a group of trees long past days of green and in their stripped branches are hundreds of red winged black birds singing to the Lord and singing to each other. For about 25 minutes I stood and watched as they fluttered amongst the branches in groups or dive into the safety of the cattails en masse. Every 2 or 3 minutes I notice that a small group, anywhere from 7 to over 40 of these birds would flutter higher and higher on the branches of the trees until they could flutter no further and after a pause, this little flock would take off. Like jets at an airport, another group would flutter to its place at the top of the trees and, in the same direction and on the same path, take off together. This kept happening the entire time I watched and as I looked back thinking they must have all flown away, I would see another group flutter by. It was absolutely mesmerizing.It didn't end there, and the rest I will cherish in my heart...God is so good.
I started off my run concerned about this, that, and the other thing when I asked God to join me. As I started to focus on Him and what He had to say to me, the world around me came alive...and so did my heart. God is so good to me. Thank you Lord, thank you for this wonderful afternoon with You!
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