Spending the Day with My Granddaughter

Thursday is my day to spend with a child
Two hours gliding through morning haze
Muting the blazing colors of fall;

Passing the hills I know too well
From last week’s ill advised bike trip,
I descend to cross the Connecticut,
Majestic river, bold enough to separate states.

The view from the bridge:
The bend in the river, the slopes and hills
Aglow from the smoldering seasonal flame –
Glorious.

I arrived to find an umbrella fairy house.
It was inhabited.
I could hear the squeals of laughter inside.
I thought I had been invited to a garden party,
But the party was for the garden, silly, not you.

Which more colorful?
The trees?
The double rainbow on the drive home?
Or the mind of a child?

The two hours spent in the morning mist
Had enhanced my entrance into the mystery
Of her world.

I don’t count seasons anymore,
Change goes only one way.
But Thursday’s change was special.
It is not cycles I seek, but tasting each day.

And being thankful.