A lovely day out

I woke up yesterday morning feeling lethargic.
The prospect of a day at home, reading, resting and working on paperwork, did not seem appealing.
I wanted to go do something physical…

I was not picky about what activity we chose to do.
We could go for a hike, for a swim, for a cycle, to sit in a cafe, to stroll in the village…as long as it involved some physical stimuli….
I had spent the previous day resting on the sofa, reading, dozing and day dreaming…… And now I was ready for some action.

After years of work and thinking that we have to keep up with the pace other people keep, and to run around filled with ambitions and busy with demanding careers, we have now shifted and instead, we start our days with a slow morning routine.

After waking up, we read a chapter in a book while still in bed, we repeat some life affirmations and enjoy a nice chat.
We talk about our dreams from the night before, or any other idea that comes to mind.
Then we meditate, brush our teeth and usually have a leisurely brunch, before we go about our day.

We decided on a late afternoon cycle from the small cute town of Carbondale, towards the small cute town of Basalt, on the bike path that runs along the old and now unused train tracks of the Rio Grande Railroad.

It was a perfectly sunny day.
The climate now in the mountains is beautiful, with pleasant days and cool evenings.
The cycling path was so picturesque.

I was cycling at a leisurely pace, taking in the wide green grassland dotted with healthy strong horses, beautiful wooden houses…. a roaring river with an occasional angler, trying to catch flying fish, by tempting them to jump up to catch their fly baits…….

We passed a stretch of wetland filled with wildlife…. It is the habitat of Bald Eagles, fierce looking Osprey, Elks, Red Woodpeckers, and thin Herons….

The wind was blowing gently between the trees…
My mind was serene, calm and very grateful…

I remembered how in the past, we would always pack with us when we went cycling, a small bag of raisins and nuts, to munch on as we cycled.
Sometimes we would pack some sandwiches, and stop to rest and refresh on a bench by the river…
Now we rarely take snacks or food with us.

I realized that the reason I was thinking of food, was that I was hungry.
We planned to go to dinner in a nice restaurant right after our cycle, so we had not brought a snack….
All I ate that morning was a bowl of dry organic cereal with no fruit, no soy milk, nothing… It was already early evening and I had not eaten a thing all day.

I was about to tell myself that in less than two hours, I will be sitting in a nice restaurant with a glass of wine, eating delicious food, when the thought crossed my mind that it would be wonderful if I were to come across an apple tree, filled with ripe apples….
I knew it was apple season, but I had not seen any apple trees along this path so far.

I even thought that if it would manifest, let it be a wild tree, and not a tree that is planted on the edge of one of the lovely homes and horse farms along the cycling path…
I do not like to pick from someone’s tree without permission.

Within ten minutes, I came upon the perfect apple tree.
It was huge, unruly, overflowing with apples and definitely NOT on anyone’s property.
I dismounted and filled my small backpack with the delicious apples, and ate four juicy ones right there.

After we felt that we had cycled enough in one direction, we turned around and started cycling back.
Almost immediately, Jules had a flat tire.

We almost never have had a flat tire on our bikes, and have never experienced any flats in Colorado.
After our return from our cycling adventure along the Silk Road in China, we had not fitted our Colorado bikes with all the repair tools which we usually keep in small pouches attached to our bikes.

Luckily, we had a spare inner tube, and an air inflator.
We started to repair the tire, when a friendly man on a bicycle stopped and asked if we needed help.
Jules said that he never refuses help… But I sent the man on his way.
I thanked him with much gratitude, but said that we truly did not need help.
After making sure we have all we needed, the man continued his cycling.

I was thinking about how the Universe sends you all you need when you need help.
First it was the apples, and now this lovely helpful man.

We fixed, inflated and mounted the tire in six to seven minutes.
We even encountered another friendly man who cycled by us and asked if we had everything we needed to repair the tire.
He had a fat repair kit filled with tools and supplies attached to his bike.

We cycled back to our car, changed our clothes and had a wonderful dinner in a great restaurant.
After dinner, while in the bathroom washing my hands, a mother with her little girl, was using the sink next to me.
It was one of these sensor operated faucets, and as the mother waved her hand and the water started flowing, the little girl’s eyes got wide with awe…
“Mommy….. this is MAGICAL…” she said in her sweet voice.

It warmed my heart to see and remember how young children get excited and full of awe at the things in life that adults take for granted…

Experiencing life from the fresh eyes and open mind of a child, anything can be SO thrilling,…… clouds…. Birds… A car ride… A train… A plane ride… A faucet….Really anything .

On our walk from the restaurant back to our car, we came upon a plastic box that somebody had deposited next to the street’s trash bin.
It was filled with books.
It seemed as if a person or a bookstore had left them there, with the hope that whoever wanted any of these books, will just take them before the trash collection the next day.

I am very particular about what I read, and I was amazed to find the box filled with books that I wanted to read, but had not yet bought.
I collected around 15 books and was at awe at the wonderful and pleasant day I had…..

Needless to say, I was happy that I had not stayed home yesterday…