A New Season

Last Thursday I rode with Bernie as he made his last trip to NUMMI to do his exit paperwork.

And then he was free.

We took our time driving home the back way, away from the freeways. We looked at wildflowers, lupine and phlox and poppies and mustard blooming along side of the roads. We savored the green of the hills, still clad in their late winter color, rich with grasses. We pulled over when there were cars behind us, so that we could ride slowly, rejoicing in the varied landscape of the Altamont Range.

This is the beginning of a newer way of life, not ruled by Bernie's commute and NUMMI's insane overtime. This one has to do with life, and grasping again what is important and glorious in life.

Our first rewards: we spotted a golden eagle squatting on a fence post beside a pasture. No, really, a golden eagle -- a huge bird and unmistakable. As we drove on, we had to pull off, astounded, the better to observe two small copper-haired feral piglets grazing at the side of the road. Things we had never seen before so close up. We had time to slow, and look, and enjoy.

The weekend was busy, what with Good Friday observations in our home, and Holy Saturday spent preparing for Easter Vigil, but we got yet another reward, the sight of a nest of Kildeer eggs in the chips in the great expanse of landscaping beside the local bike trail.

Today, while I uploaded stories to the Piker Press, Bernie went for a walk with our granddaughter; later in the afternoon, to air me out after the day's work on the computer, he went on a bike ride with me; and in the evening, he joined Alex and Lillian for a walk and came back with a small bag of tadpoles.

This is living. Now is the season of reconnecting with the life of the world. So far, we like it.