Stoping Along a the Sakatah Hills Bike Trail

Brown water dappled with green

From specks of duck weed

Flows below the bridge

Where I sit on a cedar bench--

One of several build on the sides

For pedestrians and cyclists 

To pause and rest, to take in

The beauty of the natural surroundings  

The naturalness may be tainted by 

The zooming of cars on the nearby highway 

Or the homes upstream,

But for the moment I am finding 

A subtle peacefulness as I sit. 

Billowy clouds fill the horizon

While wispier ones fly overhead. 

I don't always take the chance

For a bike ride by myself,

Often resigning to a loyalty

To patristic duties, but every now

And then I listen to my wife's offerings

And take some time for self-care. 

So I left our group camp and the

Friends still sitting around the campfire, 

The children playing with each other

And biking down the hills,

And took off own my own of a while. 

I am not a serious cyclist. 

I do not bike merely for the sake

Of logging several miles. 

I enjoy the exercise, yes. 

But I also will take the time

To watch a heron feeding in the reeds

Of the marsh along the trail,

Or take a picture of an interesting shadow,

Or to stop on a bridge over a river

And enjoy the scenery and peacefulness

Like in this moment