Labor Day weekend has always been significant to me -- the sad end to summer and the exciting start to a new school year. The happy end of August heat/humidity, the onset of another hopeful football season. And for me, it was both the weekend I met my husband-to-be and the weekend 14 years later that the gave me The Speech ("I love you but I'm not in love with you.").
Anyone who has experienced grief knows that it has a mind of its own. You think you're doing great and unexpectedly, from out of nowhere, you find yourself brooding and preoccupied. Only after some thought do you realize why. Such was my weekend. No wonder then that I lost a biking glove and misplaced my sunglasses this weekend too. But biking is free therapy and it's available on holidays. So bike I did.
And nature rewarded my effort...while riding the Columbia Trail in the drizzle, cruising along at about 15 mph, I came around a corner and there was a black bear crossing the trail! The photo shows the hill on both sides of the trail; he was no more than 20 feet ahead of me. I braked hard as soon as I saw him, skidding out the back tire. In the split second I had the thought to grab my camera, he was already up the other side and long gone. And I saw him all by myself - no-one else was around. God's special little gift to me. According to some Native American lore, the bear represents strength and the ability to look inward for answers. God speaks to us all the time. We have only to listen. I'm glad I went biking in the drizzle. The rest of my weekend was not quite as cloudy.
Anyone who has experienced grief knows that it has a mind of its own. You think you're doing great and unexpectedly, from out of nowhere, you find yourself brooding and preoccupied. Only after some thought do you realize why. Such was my weekend. No wonder then that I lost a biking glove and misplaced my sunglasses this weekend too. But biking is free therapy and it's available on holidays. So bike I did.
And nature rewarded my effort...while riding the Columbia Trail in the drizzle, cruising along at about 15 mph, I came around a corner and there was a black bear crossing the trail! The photo shows the hill on both sides of the trail; he was no more than 20 feet ahead of me. I braked hard as soon as I saw him, skidding out the back tire. In the split second I had the thought to grab my camera, he was already up the other side and long gone. And I saw him all by myself - no-one else was around. God's special little gift to me. According to some Native American lore, the bear represents strength and the ability to look inward for answers. God speaks to us all the time. We have only to listen. I'm glad I went biking in the drizzle. The rest of my weekend was not quite as cloudy.