Standing in a cathedral of green

Pondering what's possible
London, ON
October 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

You see things differently when you wander through the woods with your kid. And by differently, I mean better. More precisely. More vibrantly.

We went looking for fall colors, as we do every year. But as you can see here, Mother Nature still hadn’t broken out her brightest shades. Maybe next week. Never mind, though, because green is still a color, and it was never about the colors in the first place.

It was always about that all-too-rare commodity: Time. About leaving the homework (hers) and writing (mine) behind for an hour or so while we looked at an impossibly beautiful world through glass. About picking our way across muddy paths without losing our shoes or boots in the process. About letting our minds race as we read the landscape and looked for something, anything, that jumped out at us. About creating something from nothing. About telling the story of a place, a path through a valley carved by a deceptively tiny creek, that most folks who live nearby don’t even know exists.

We weren’t out there as long as we would have liked. The setting sun and unusually aggressive mosquitoes (in October!) decided our timeline for us. But quality matters more than quantity, and by that definition it was a successful expedition.

Her photos were, and are, stunning, and she’ll be sharing them in her own feeds before long. My memories of watching her come into her own didn’t make it into pixel form, but they’re just as powerful to me.

Maybe Mother Nature will cooperate on our next walk. But even if she doesn't, time with this creative, brilliant human being is the real prize.

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