In which Thor, Bear dog, and I seize the day as sun breaks through our Pacific Northwest autumn deluges.
“Carpe Diem” — “Seize the day” — we have been exhorted at least since the Roman poet Horace and the Greek philosopher Epicurus. Countless poets since have reminded us that life is fleeting, and pleasures must be enjoyed before they vanish. Andrew Marvel, in “To His Coy Mistress,” used this persuasion: “Now let us sport us while we may….” Living in the rainy Pacific Northwest, Thor and I take that advice to heart, as sun breaks can be scarce from fall through gloomy gray winter. So when an afternoon of glorious sunshine recently broke out after weeks of wind and rainstorms — including deluges from “atmospheric rivers” off the Pacific — we loaded up Bear dog and our bikes and headed for one of our favorite rides along the shore of nearby Lake Whatcom.
Along the way, we delighted in the blaze of big-leaf maples still hanging onto their leaves.
Our moss-covered giants could have inspired Tolkien’s Ent trees in The Lord of the Rings.
We’re off along the lake trail, pedaling over the russet carpet of fallen leaves as Bear dog runs along (with necessary delays for sniffing delicious odors).
Of course, even the pursuit of pleasure can encounter challenges, and the recent windstorms had knocked down a lot of big trees this year. This day, two major blowdowns were blocking the trail. The first was an enormous fir that had fallen and taken down most of a big maple and some cedars with it. The resulting tangle of broken trunks and cedar branches required some muscle to push and carry our bikes through.
Every loss of big trees, essential in so many ways, causes a pang of grief, but the day was too glorious to let the barriers stop us. The second treefall was much easier to get over:
We made it to our favorite picnic spot near the end of the trail, and Bear dog enjoyed a refreshing dip in the clear water. In the summer, Thor and I would dive in after him, but the lake is way too cold for us mere humans in this season.
This magical escape never fails to brighten our days — and of course fresh air and exercise never hurts.
As Thor and I enter our “golden years,” dealing with health challenges, we are determined to remain active and keep having our “geezer adventures.” No knowing where the path will take us all in these challenging times, but we will heed the call of Nature’s beauty as long as we’re able. “Carpe diem!”
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You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s latest novel from Book View Café is Pause, a First Place winner of the Chanticleer Somerset Award and a Pulpwood Queens International Book Club selection. “A must-read novel about friendship, love, and killer hot flashes.” (Mindy Klasky). Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com
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