First Signs of Fall

Earlier this month, when all the kids were finally in school, including our littlest ones beginning pre-school, I started hiking on Wednesdays with a group of girlfriends.

We started out with waterfall canyon -- a beautiful, not too strenuous climb (kids can even do it if you take it slow) that ends up at a giant waterfall. I've enjoyed this hike since I was a teenager.

For the past two weeks, we've been hiking Malan's Peak. The first time we did it (my first time ever), it was raining just a little and as we climbed up and up we came into little fairytale pockets of mist. We gained several thousand vertical feet on this steep climb, and it was on our way up that I discovered the first signs of fall. Things started out green, then we began to see yellow and brown, finally branches of bright red jutting out here and there. Of course the rain made the colors even more stark.

It was difficult to make the five-mile round trip trek quick enough to pick the kids up from pre-school (2 1/2 hours). I felt like I was running up steep stairs for most of it. And, I don't know how anyone else around me could breath because I was sucking ALL available oxygen in the vicinity as fast as possible. That first trip up was a real doozy. My super-in-shape friend (mother of five) was running up the trail while I staggered along awkwardly, trying to catch sight of her.

There is a certain solidarity that comes from hiking in the rain, I think. It is the same way I felt when that same super-in-shape friend and I use to run together (back in the day) on rainy days. No matter the weather, she was always good to go. I would call and say things like, "Ummm . . . it's pouring rain, should we cancel?" "There is a blizzard, are you sure you want to go?" "I just checked the weather and it's two degrees outside. I heard people's lungs can actually freeze and stop working at two-degrees. Can we please just go back to bed?" She never once relented.

It was a tough hike, and my legs were sore for at least five days after the first time (it was easier the next week), but, as I always promise my kids when we hike, I felt very, very rewarded in the end. In fact, not only was it a great feeling that day, but every day after, as I was driving around, looking at that huge peak, telling my kids, "Your mom walked to the very top of that mountain right there!" I'm asking myself why I haven't been hiking this peak all my life? It's so gorgeous!

I gathered red leaves and brought them home to show my kids the first signs of fall. That was fun at the beginning of September. It was amazing how much that hike had changed by the following week -- much more color including oranges and purples. Now, the leaves are even beginning to change here on the benches. I was so pleased last night when Soph and E-Man spent the evening playing in the backyard until sundown. They gathered up fall leaves and glued them to papers (and, glued papers together) making a huge fall collage. It brings me such joy when they get along, when they spend time outdoors, and when they are artistic -- truly a nice night to see all three happen at once.