Mid-Morning Stroll
The sun shone bright and sparkling through the leaves of the trees, as she walked slowly down the sloping drive. Her bare feet crunched lightly on the warm, packed dirt. A gentle summer breeze blew a few short strands of light brown hair across her face, the ones that were too short to be pulled up and back with the rest. The breeze rustled her white silk dress about her knees, the fabric softly caressing her bare legs beneath.
She looked up at the soothingly whispering trees. Their leaves were brilliant shades of green. The half-dead pines stood grey and bare, no green but for at their very peaks. Beyond the branches, the sky was a soft shade of blue. Small puffy, white clouds wandered across it.
As she came to the base of the drive, she dug her toes into the sand there. It was warmer than the packed dirt. It was much warmer. She stood for a time, listening to the singing of the birds and feeling the warm sun on her face. Then she wiggled her toes and the sand fell away. Her feet felt cooler now.
She continued, taking the right, down the dirt country road. The earth was gullied on the left side, forming a snake like ditch there. On the right, was a two-foot stone wall and on the other side of this, a brook, winding lazily through the woods. She could just hear the brook’s faint babble over the birds and the quiet sounds of her footsteps.
The road sloped downward and was flooded with brilliant sun light at the base of this small hill. There, where the road leveled for a short distance before sloping uphill once more, was another patch of sand. The brook flowed through a culvert here, passing from one side to the other. She stopped in that place. The sun felt good on her face and the sand again warmed her feet.
She looked further down the road a short way, taking in the familiar landscape. Just past the brook, on the right side of the road, was an opening into a field. She hadn’t been up there in what felt like a long time. But she couldn’t go now. There were too many overgrown weeds.
She moved her gaze further into the distance. The mountains looked beautiful. They were hazy shades of blues and greens, rising and falling until they disappeared over the horizon. She was calm.
And the sun felt good on her face. And the sand warmed her feet.
