thankfulness for today

I had my brisk morning walk today before coming in to work, and what I'm thankful for today is the beauty of nature, especially my little park and the golden and crimson leaves that are strewn about or still hanging on the trees waiting to join the drifts of yellow and orange and carmine strewn over the paths and swards and even, astonishingly, the stream. It's funny, there's a place where the water coming down our little watercourse rushes gurgling over some rocks then hits what I guess must be a much deeper patch. Because it stops gurgling and rushing; the surface becomes calm and completely unmoving. A carpet of bright autumn leaves lies still across it from bank to bank, with small gaps of mirror-still water showing here and there. A few yards further down, the same water rushes swiftly again over boulders and bit of broken concrete. The stillness is amazing, almost miraculous.

Autumn is beautiful this year. One of the fences between two houses near the far end of my walk has a vine I do not know growing over it, bearing gems in place of fruit. Green, teal, blue, and a deep, rich violet, the lightly speckled berries hang in clusters like something from an extravagant, Romantic painting, set off by the still spring-green leaves. Next door in an adjoining yard, a holly tree hangs its glossy dark green leaves over the same fence, highlighted by bright red berries. Autumn is beautiful this year.