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Some things I learned after walking 40 minutes a day through a large county park near my neighborhood.

1. Late October evenings smell crispier than early fall.
2. Saturday is a safe bet for catching a glimpse at a wedding party getting photos taken.
3. Any day around 4pm or 10am is a great time to put your baby under a pretty fall tree and take pictures.
4. Thursday early evening is the appropriate time for a group to get together and fight with swords near the lake.
5. Maintenance people pick up the leaves that fell mid October making the last part of it seem a little colder and emptier.
6. Most people with dogs will smile and look at your face. Most people alone will ignore you.
7. When the sun finally gets below the trees on the horizon at 6:45pm the part of the trail that is in “the woods” for a block or so is pretty creepy.
8. Wet leaves on the wood bridges are extremely slippery. Seriously, not a joke. Danger.
9. The amount of sunflowers on the lake are amazingly rich and full in September. Only a few hang on through October.
10. Which brings me to my last point; nature is friggin’ beautiful. I mean for real. No joke – I walked the same trail for a month and watched the leaves change in what is probably the most beautiful time of year. I don’t know – I imagine I will become all gooey eyed again in the spring. Heck maybe even winter is pretty…I don’t know! I will find out though. I just remember walking this circle in the heat of summer, everything the same shade of green, miserable humidity here, just god awful conditions that completely distract from anything going on around you. Then in September things just changed like magic. To see this season through has been kind of a game changer for me. I have turned a corner….I have…some other cliché thing….I’m different.